𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐎𝐍𝐄 - the drug den

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𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 the church with ease as Karen followed behind wearily. The wolf took slow steps, each echoing throughout the expansive nave of the building. After the conversation Olivia, Karen and Foggy had in the car, the lawyer had offered to drop them both off at the church so that Karen could relay that she knew the whereabouts of Jasper Evans, the man who had 'attacked' Fisk in the prison.

"Sister Maggie!" Olivia called out, making sure to be mindful of the few occupants that sat within the nave.

Sister Maggie turned to Olivia with a smile before her eyes settled curiously on Karen, "Olivia, you're back, who might this be?"

"This is Karen Page, one of the friends I went to meet earlier."

The Sister's eyes lit up with recognition and she held out a hand, "Karen, nice to meet you."

"You too." Karen responded with a tense smile as she shook the nun's hand, "Is uh, is Matt around?"

"He's not," Sister Maggie shook her head as she looked toward Olivia, "He hasn't been back since you left together.

Olivia frowned, she and Matt had left to go to Karen's and it had been quite some time since then. Perhaps he found out some information about Jasper himself?

The wolf locked eyes with Karen, "He must've gone for Jasper himself."

"I thought you didn't know where he was, that's why you needed me?"

Olivia sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Well, this is Matt we're talking about."

"He's a complicated man." Sister Maggie hummed as she led the two towards one of the pews. "I've actually been reading some of your articles, Karen; trying to get some insight."

Olivia slouched onto the pew as she twisted to face Sister Maggie; perhaps reading some of Karen's articles wasn't such a bad idea?

"Did you find any?" Karen responded as she crossed one leg over the other. "'Cause I sure as hell didn't." She paused as she registered her own words and shook her head at herself, "Oh, I'm... sorry."

"Wears you out, doesn't it? Saving him from himself."

Olivia sat back as she listened to the two, listened to the defeated tone that Karen's voice held as she admitted that she wasn't sure if she could continue to support and save Matthew every time he fell off the deep end.

All Olivia could think was that Karen was lying to herself. She cared about Matthew far too much to give up... that, and the fact that her heart had an unsteady beat as she spoke those words. Her mind drifted back to what Foggy had said, about how people had bailed on Matt more often than not.

"-He was plagued by awful nightmares." Sister Maggie's calm and saddened voice drew Olivia's attention towards the conversation once again, "He'd wake in a sweat, screaming. He didn't say what they were about. He'd just call out for help. So I'd go, and I'd hold his hand till he fell back to sleep."

Olivia felt something in the pit of her gut as Sister Maggie spoke; she knew what it was like to have your dreams plagued by monsters. Hers were filled with a burning fire, a crumbling home, and shrill screams and every time her throat became hoarse from screaming in her sleep, Laura or Derek had always been there, soothing her. Even later in life, after the nightmares had died down to appearing once in a blue moon, Derek or even Peter would rush into her bedroom and wake her, calm tones and promises of protection soothing her tears and worries.

"But I have so many children under my care." The nun sighed, her eyes falling to the ground, "Matthew wasn't the only one. His nightmares went on for months and one night, Matthew called for help and I didn't answer. I didn't go to him. He never asked us for anything again. He shuts us out. Shut everyone out. Everyone in Matthew's life abandoned him. Including me."

Olivia placed a hand on the Sister's arm, snapping the nun's attention towards her, "But you're here now when he needs you. Believe me, he appreciates it."

"You've stayed with him through thick and thin, I've heard you both argue, heard you talk, he's let you in because you aren't me; you didn't leave him." Maggie grasped the hand on her arm, wrapping it in her own as an act of thanks. A thank you for not repeating her mistake. A thank you for being there.

The nun turned her head to face Karen who had been watching Olivia and Sister Maggie with a small smile, a guilty smile. "When someone in need tries to push you away... You have to find the strength to hold on tighter."

With that, Sister Maggie's melancholy eyes shined with a small and unshed tear as she smiled and left the two women alone.

"How do you do it?" Karen's voice broke through the silence, shattering it like glass.

"What do you mean?"

She swallowed, pushing her lightly curled blonde strands behind her ears, "Matt. She said you argued, and I'm sure he pushes you away too, how do you do it? Stay, I mean."

Olivia leaned against the back of the pew, eyes focused on the ethereal looking alter that stood proudly, sun glittering through the stained windows. "I know how he feels. I uh- You know about the fire, about how most of my family is gone; dead." She inhaled deeply, willing the lump in her throat to vanish, "If he pushed me away, it wouldn't just be him losing me, I'd lose him too, and I don't think I could make it through losing another person I care about. I used to try so hard to keep people away because death follows me like a bad smell, but there are just some people that worm their way in, and no matter what..." Her head tilted to lock brown and blue, "I won't let them go."

Karen stared as she registered what the woman had said. She had researched the Hale fire after finding out about what Olivia could do and by the time she had finished the first article her hand had been clutching at her aching chest as her salty tears splashed onto the table.

She didn't miss the small crack in Olivia's voice when she had said the words 'I won't let them go.' and she could only guess that the real words she had wanted to speak were 'I won't let him go.'

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Olivia had eventually cut their conversation short and led Karen back out of the church; they had the last known address where Jasper Evans had been seen and so that was where they were headed.

It had already gotten dark, the sky changing from a peaceful blue to an unsettling navy, very few stars twinkled above them and the Olivia could easily see the moon was passing its third quarter; less than a week until another full moon.

"Why do you look at the moon?" Karen piped up as she stuffed her wind bitten hands inside her jacket pockets.

Olivia paused in her steps... ah. Neither Karen nor Foggy knew what she really was. "Uh, I've never told you..."

"Told me what?"

"I'm- I'm not like Matt, Jessica, Luke or Danny, I don't have 'superpowers'"

"Liv, what are you talking about?"

With a deep exhale Olivia turned her head to look at the blonde; her eyes illuminated into cobalt and she brought a hand up, wiggling her fingers as claws overtook her nails, "I'm a werewolf."

Karen stood in place with her mouth agape as her eyes kept locking on to the long, sharp claws and the glowing eyes. "I- I don't- What?"

"Me. Werewolf. Sorry I didn't tell you; twenty-seven years and I still don't know the best way to tell people."

"You're a werewolf..." Karen dragged out slowly as she brought a hand to her forehead. "How?"

"How. That's what you wanna know? My parents were werewolves, I'm sure you know how sex and genetics work?"

"Olivia," Karen stressed, sounding more exasperated than Derek after dealing with Peter's nonsense for days on end. "You know what? Why not? My best friend, who's an asshole, is a blind ninja so why wouldn't you be werewolf?!"

Olivia rose a brow, her eyes fading back to whiskey and her claws evened out until her nails replaced them. She stared at Karen as the woman continued to mutter and lightly pull at her hair, "Are you-" She paused before muttering to herself, "Probably not the best time to have told her that you're an actual children's nightmare, ten out of ten Olivia."

"No, no, it's- it's okay. I'm okay. Let's just carry on."

The wolf slowly nodded, watching as Karen continued on and slowly trailed after her, keeping her mouth shut for the time being.

"Hey!" Karen called out over her shoulder as her eyes glossed over the building across the street, "That's it."

"Huh." Olivia mused as she looked toward the building; it was very much decapitated and run down, though Olivia wasn't entirely sure she had thought that it would look any different. "Cute."

"What were you expecting from a literal drug den?"

"Honestly? I have no idea, never been near them."

"Never?"

Olivia chuckled as they crossed the street, "I don't know if I should be offended by the shock in your voice; I have 'super self-healing' so I can't get drunk, probably can't get high."

"Huh, you can't get drunk, and yet all you do is drink."

"Karen, stop judging me and take me to a drug den."

The two women looked at one another, processing the sentence that had just left the wolf's lips, Karen had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing and Olivia outright snorted, "Not a sentence I thought I'd ever say."

Karen shook her head in amusement before taking the lead and stepping inside the building, Olivia following behind as she pulled the turtleneck over her mouth and nose; if one person inside was working with Fisk, who was to say that more weren't?

Olivia trailed her eyes around the building as she followed behind Karen and there was no doubt in her mind that her face, even though it was almost entirely covered, looked judgmental as heck. There was trash lining the place and the stench of the garbage alongside the sweat of the drugged-up people smacked her in the face harder than Karen had, and that was saying something.

The perk of having a body that healed itself was that Olivia could swipe a half-empty can of beer from a random shelf inside of drug den and not have to worry about the repercussions, so that's exactly what she did; shrugging as Karen gave a disapproving look when she quickly took a swig before pulling the turtleneck back up.

Olivia cocked her head when one of the occupants of the building appeared within their peripheral, he certainly looked like he belonged there; greasy hair, under-eye bags, and small bruises and pinpricks littering his arms.

"You lost?" The man spoke as he eyes the two, taking an extra moment to scrutinize Olivia's covered face.

As Olivia had previously said; she had never been anywhere near drugs, the closest being whatever weird herbs Dr. Deaton kept in his clinic and most of those were the type her kind should stay away from. So, she let Karen take the lead.

She didn't bother to listen to the conversation, instead, she trailed her eyes around the place before they landed on Karen as she handed over some money. The wolf rolled her eyes as the man looked to her expectantly, she pulled out her wallet, fished out some notes, and handed them over.

She had no idea what he had placed in her palm, opting to throw whatever it was over her shoulder the moment she and Karen were out of his sight before continuing to walk through the building, bypassing people who were drugged-up and passed out as they did.

A lot of the occupants were surprisingly sober, a lot of them finding shelter from the streets and Olivia couldn't blame them, Hell's Kitchen was a nasty place when the moon started to rise.

Olivia paused in her steps as Karen crouched down next to a man, lightly tapping him awake as she showed him the drugs she held in her hand, "Point me towards, uh, Jasper Evans, and this is yours."

The wolf took a step closer to Karen as a man approached them from behind, "What the hell's it to you?" He tilted his head as he directed his words to the rest of the occupants, "Everybody out. Get out!"

Olivia could feel Karen shaking beside her as she slowly rose from her crouched position and to try and ease her, she took a minuscule step in front of her. "You Jasper Evans?" Her words were slightly muffled from the fabric covering her mouth but the man understood her perfectly.

Olivia spun as Karen let out a sharp gasp. The blonde threw her elbow back and knocked the person who had tried attacking her away. Olivia took the opportunity to grab the person by the front of their tattered shirt and used her strength to throw them sideways; they crashed into the wall and left behind a hefty indent before they passed out.

Olivia cocked her head as she turned to face Jasper who had made the unwise decision to take a step forward. The wolf threw a kick towards his stomach and sent him to the ground before twisting around and grabbed the fist another person had tried to knock against the back of her head. Without blinking, Olivia closed her grip and crushed the hand, ignoring their pained yells as their legs buckled. She brought her knee to their face and they were out cold.

Her gaze was cold as she turned to face Jasper once again, "Do you want to try again, or do you want to answer our damn questions?"

He said nothing as he pushed himself forward and Olivia couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sheer audacity. Why would you pick a fight with somebody who had just crushed another person's hand? Rather than dwell on the man's stupidity any further she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, slamming him face-first into the closest wall.

He let out a grunt of pain from the pressure building on his arm and the collision his nose made with the wall.

"Well, you have this handled."

Olivia twisted her head, her grip on Jasper remaining as her eyes locked onto Matthew who wore a small smirk. Olivia huffed as she tightened her grip just a smidge, eliciting another grunt from the man in her hold, "Don't worry, you can be the knight in shining armor next time- would you stop struggling?" Olivia complained as Jasper tried to squirm in her grip.

Without much remorse she pulled him back and proceeded to shove him forward once more, his head smacking against the solid wall and sending him to the floor.

"So you knew his last known address?" Karen snapped as she waved a hand about, her gaze narrowed on Olivia, "What about you? Did you know?"

Olivia held her hands up in surrender, "No, I didn't."

Karen huffed, her hands on her hips like an annoyed mother as she nodded and turned her eyes back to Matthew, "You knew he'd probably be here, so what... what were you waiting for? For me? You knew I'd come?"

"I hoped... and uh, Liv's with you, she can be persuasive."

Olivia blinked, well, of course she was persuasive but Karen wasn't an idiot, if she didn't want to come on her own accord she wouldn't have.

"Okay, look, I'm going to help you. But..." Karen relented as the annoyance fizzled from her posture. "After that, I need you to help Foggy and me. Look, the FBI are all over us-"

"You want me to turn myself in."

"Did you talk to Foggy?"

"No. But, uh... it's the smart move." Matt explained. Olivia wasn't entirely surprised that Matt was agreeing, after all Foggy came up with the plan because he knew the law, so did Matt. "Sure, I'll do it."

Olivia shook her head as she leaned against the wall, Jasper still peacefully unconscious at her feet, "You sound far too nonchalant about turning yourself in."

"What if they figured out that you're... you?" Karen pressed.

Matt shrugged before responding to both of them, "Well, this mask doesn't do me any good if I'm a wanted man, either way. Besides, if the FBI figured out who I am, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll lock me up next to Fisk."

Olivia sighed lightly as she cracked an eye open, glossing it over Matthew in all of his pessimistic, vigilante glory. Of course he'd be okay with that. A moron.

"Jesus." Karen muttered, finally seeing in person what Foggy had meant "Foggy said you were... different. Changed, I guess. I told him it was bullshit."

Matt inhaled, cutting the woman off. "All right, look, we can't take a statement here. Fisk's lawyers will say it was coerced."

"Yeah, no, we take him to the Bulletin. We get him on record in front of witnesses. Besides, my editor's gonna wanna hear this with his own ears."

Matt turned his head towards Olivia who rose an unseen brow, she felt the corners of her lips tug upwards as Matt gestured to the body at her feet and with the toe of her boot, she knocked the man on the head, "Come on sunshine, get up."

Matthew rolled his eyes beneath his mask, going entirely unseen by the women before he bent down to grasp the man by the front of his shirt, throwing him towards a chair. "It's your lucky day. I'm gonna give you a choice. Option one: I call the FBI... and Wilson Fisk has you killed before you can tell 'em how you got out of prison."

"And option number two..." Olivia dragged out as she smiled beneath her mask, gesturing towards Karen, "You tell our lovely reporter the truth about what you did for Fisk, you know, the whole staged stabbing? Do that, and you can crawl back underneath whatever rock you want without worrying about Fisk finding your ass."

The man panted from his twisted position in the chair, blood dribbling from his painfully pulsating nose. "I can't"

Olivia tilted her head, "I heard 'option one' what about you?"

Matthew nodded as he went to take a step, only pausing as Jasper spoke in a rushed voice, "No, if I talk, Fisk kills my son! Look at this place. I grew up here. We had a good life before the neighborhood went down and I got myself put away. I left my son without a father. And this is what he does with his life. If I go back inside, it won't be long until he's sharin' a cell with me or worse."

Olivia rose a brow as Karen place a hand on her shoulder before she took a step to the side, letting the blonde step closer to the bloodied man.

Karen pursed her lips as she crouched down. "If Fisk stays out of prison, a lot of innocent people are gonna die. So you can either tell my paper the truth and we let you and your son run far away, or you can go back to prison and I print the story like you talked anyway."

Olivia smiled to herself as she listened to the reporter talk, well, threaten. Honestly, she was growing to love Karen and her attitude more by the second.

"You would lie and get us both killed?" Jasper muttered, his eyes glancing at his son who had been the one to let the women inside the building and had tried to fight them.

"Your choice."

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27-08-2020