“So that’s the stance we’re taking, then?” Foggy demanded, too loud, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Just protect the people who can be neutralized just by taking their equipment from them, saying nothing when Ross not only does whatever he wants to, but then insists that he and all his successors and equivalents in other countries are required to do that to their citizens, too?”
“It’s the one I have to take, Foggy,” she replied. “Remember, I’m Sam’s lawyer. I have to put his interests first, and right now I don’t even care how he feels about it, so don’t go talking to me about that.”
“Well.” If Marci wanted to take that route. “I’m Wanda’s lawyer, so you can’t expect me to just shut up and let you throw her under the bus.”
“But how much could you gain by blaring about this to the media right now, Foggy? You know whose side they’ll take. All you’ll do is make things harder for the rest of us. Ask Matt, he’ll tell you.”
The use of her husband’s name in that context by Marci, who after years of their acquaintance had still never really known him, who would be throwing him under the bus too in her ignorance, sent a surge of rage through Foggy that left her trembling. Her voice turned cold as she replied, “Matt would thank you not to speak for him.”
Marci recognized her reaction, but she took it in stride. “Fine, then. But there are other people who’ll also give you their opinions if you try to do this. Yeah, your friend Karen’ll be full speed ahead-until she collides right into the hasty words of her boss, since he has some sense.”
“She’ll fight, and so will Trish, and really, Marci, you should know better than to think you’ll intimidate me into conceding a fight before I’ve even begun it. And you know how discourse has gone in this country lately. Whoever is the loudest and talks the most can spew outright lies and still get a good amount of people believing them. You think I’m going to stay silent and let the other side do all that yelling?”
Marci opened her mouth, then hastily shut it. Foggy pressed on before she could think of what to say instead. “You just lost all you influence on me, for the record. You might get some of it back if you can show me before our first joint court date looms that you’re willing to have minimal consideration for my client.” That would probably be a while away now, since their clients were no longer in custody and they didn’t have to worry about their treatment anymore.
“Then there’s no point in having you in my office any longer. Although I’m going to be putting out a very general statement about reviewing the charges and how I still have questions about why it took this long to file them. Which really should be a joint statement. If there’s nothing in that you object to…” Marci inclined her head towards the door.
“That’s fine, send it to me and I’ll probably sign my name,” said Foggy, and walked out. She didn’t slam the door behind her; she didn’t want to give Marci the satisfaction. Even so, the noise of it closing was loud in her ears.
And now she had nowhere to immediately go to, not until Matt and Jennifer finished their own conversation, which she was pretty sure was going to take a lot longer than hers and Marci’s had. So instead she lingered in the hall corner with her phone, going through her latest missives. The government had just filed a bunch of motions to dismiss, mostly based off the plaintiffs no longer being in the Raft, and there were no doubt more ready to go once those indictments were out. That was enough to make her wish she and Marci hadn’t just put themselves at odds with each other. It would’ve been easier to deal with this with her aid instead.
Finally Matt and Jennifer emerged from her office. It was a safe assumption he’d walk her out, so she just waved and called out a quick, “Hi,” before all but diving into her sanctuary. She supposed Cheryl would probably come back in pretty soon, but at least she had until then to freak out and feel all lost and alone, the way she hadn’t felt since the Castle case.
The thought occurred to her, as she sat down, that she could maybe email Malcolm, because she had his address, and try to apologize for the way she’d talked to him the previous night. It was probably better if she had as few people as possible pissed off at her at any one time. But she was still in so sour a mood that she feared she’d write something that would just make things worse. She thought, too, of the letter currently locked in one of her drawers, the one Cheryl had seen the name on, but hadn’t asked any questions about. But as she’d told Wanda, that one might take a while to reach its destination.
Except now she suddenly desperately wanted to talk to Pepper. She didn’t even know why, exactly. It wasn’t like her current woes were even from the whole married-to-a-superhero thing. It didn’t matter, though, when she needed a better reason than that to risk Stark having any idea about what was going on. Now that Ross was putting on a show of giving them the judicial process, she didn’t trust him at all anymore.
So she just started drafting her responses to the various motions. Maybe Matt could help her with those, she thought. He and Jennifer were probably going to attach joinders to everything until they’d made their deals, so it wouldn’t really be improper.
She’d made a little bit of progress when her husband returned. He would’ve sensed a least some of her distress, of course, so when he came in, she just said, “Don’t ask. It’s not even…just don’t, okay?”
Matt considered for a moment, then said, “I didn’t listen in, but I can tell just from that you and Marci had a serious disagreement.”
“I know, I know, we got no poker faces. We should’ve thought of that before we took on a national-profile habeas case.”
“You and Marci do both realize the four of us need to continue to present a united front for at least a few more days, right?”
Of course he and Jennifer needed that time to pretend their clients were just now contacting them. And even then they might want to keep everything from the public while the negotiations went on. “You’ll have to talk to her,” she shrugged. “She’s drafting a statement right now for the four of us to put out, and it didn’t sound like anything you’d object to either. Once that’s out, I’m not too likely to say anything to the press for at least a few days if none of you three do.” She probably should've told Marci that, but Marci shouldn't have said what she'd said before giving her the chance to.
“Jennifer and I won’t; we can tell you two that no problem. I can also tell you she’s probably going to go back to San Francisco for at least a few days, probably leaving tomorrow.” That made sense, too; she probably wanted to make contact with a new next friend for Scott. “I’ll talk to Marci, see how she’s doing with the statement. Then I’ll head home. I’ve got some other things to take care of.” He leaned over and kissed her, and it was the kind of soft, reassuring, “we’ve got this” moment they’d still had too little of since they’d first gone to the hospital to see Frank Castle.
When Marci’s statement arrived, it was about what Foggy had expected. She was still angry at her, but she couldn’t help but admire the professionalism with which she informed the world that Ross had been lying through his teeth. She did point out that only one of the Raft’s three prisoners had actually been superpowered, but that Foggy couldn’t argue with. She replied with her approval immediately, and Matt and Jennifer had both done the same within an hour.
It was late in the day, when she was reading her way through the indictment against Steve and noting all the mentions of Bucky Barnes by name, that it first occurred to Foggy to wonder why he hadn’t been charged with the others. Had those who’d arrested him in Romania found reason to think him mentally incompetent to stand trial, or even to appreciate the wrongfulness of any recent conduct? That possibility was enough to make Foggy fear for the safety of all the Avengers all over again.
It could be something else, she also thought. Something secret the U.S. government had carefully kept out of the indictments. Something the Avengers themselves might also know, and might hypothetically tell their lawyers, who then might hypothetically determine it to be in their clients’ interests to make it public.
The fact that they had not told their lawyers this secret, of course, did not lessen the potential danger that would put the four of them in if it existed, and the government knew or even believed they might know it. Suddenly the thought of Matt and Jennifer having clandestine meetings with them, ones where they would likely be asked to not tell anyone, even family, about their taking place, was a much scarier prospect.
She had to talk to Matt about that. But it might be a better idea to have that conversation in person, especially since that would keep him from hanging up on her. There were Marci and Jennifer too, but them she just warned by email. They didn’t respond, but she hadn’t expected them to. Hopefully they would at least heed her words.
But she got home late that night. Sasha’s case took an unexpected turn, and she spent an hour on the phone with two different people. Then she was waylaid by Benowitz, who ever since Midland Circle had been harassing her about her associations with both Jessica and Luke; she knew he was harassing Jeri about it as well. After dealing with him, she finally hurried home without even trying to grab dinner, hoping Matt hadn’t eaten all the leftovers.
He hadn’t, but he had gone out; he’d left the chest out by the closet, as he usually did if she wasn’t home to see him off, even now, when he would've had to go over to Jessica's for it. Foggy put it away before walking up to the roof, and calling, “Matt?” She tried to be as loud as she could without risking anyone on the top floor hearing her. When a couple of minutes had passed, she started telling him the thoughts and fears she’d had earlier that day. She stayed up there for half an hour, but there was no sign of Matt returning. He might or might not have heard her, but if he had, it was likely he was involved in a fight out there, or possibly a chase, or something even more dangerous.
She called Karen on her way downstairs, but got her voicemail. She considered leaving a message, but then decided that her, too, she should talk with in person.
It wasn’t going to be a night for sleeping. Foggy considered trying anyway, if only because she wanted to be there when he returned more than usual, and if he had heard her, he’d come back much sooner. But it was one of those times when she couldn’t even sit down on the bed without needing to get right back up again. She spent a few minutes pacing the living room before she couldn’t stand even that. When she once again got Karen’s voicemail, she decided to see if she was home.
There was no response at Karen’s door when Foggy knocked. She called her again, and still she didn’t pick up. There was a feeling of dread building in Foggy’s gut now, one she’d learned to heed. Not that it did much good right now, when she had no idea what action she could take next.
It was enough to make her wish Frank Castle was still in New York. Although Karen herself didn’t know all that much of what he’d been doing since January or so, they were aware that he’d left the city, and Foggy knew that all three of them were taking note of all the deaths, lately, in the gangs that had been at the carousel that day. That was enough to make her wonder why the rest of the world still seemed to be assuming the Punisher was dead. Since it seemed he wasn’t going back to prison any time soon, Foggy normally thought she’d settle for him at least being out of sight and mind. But there was no denying it would be a lot harder for woe to befall Karen if he happened to be in the area.
All she could do, on the other hand, was hurry home, talking about the situation as she did so, especially since if Matt heard her sounding distressed out on the streets he was likely to zero his ears in. She got in to find the apartment still empty, but barely had time to catch her breath before she heard the familiar clatter of her husband landing on the roof.
Then she heard him running downstairs, which was never a good sign. She scrambled for the first aid kit, glad they’d at least restocked everything since this whole affair started. But when Matt came in, Foggy couldn’t see any signs of significant injuries, and when he had changed into his workout gear, presumably at Jessica’s.
Then she saw how upset he was. “Karen?” she asked, her heart dropping.
“It’s a good thing you were talking all that time, Foggy; I don’t know if I would’ve gotten to her otherwise. I found her unconscious in an alley. I think she actually escaped whoever attacked her, but…called 911 on the burner.” He hadn’t broken he stride, just come to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “But you know, if the government had attacked her, I can’t help but think they would’ve sent the police out on her by now. I started listening for it even before I found her, I couldn’t have risked the hospital if…but I’ve heard plenty of their communications and there’s been nothing.”
“So she’s got some else after her, too?” As if they didn’t have enough problems.
“Might just be one of her older friends. I’m going to have to look into it. Although do you think I should just come with you to the hospital tonight? I assume Karen will call you as soon as they let her.”
Foggy thought about it for a moment, but then said, “You’d start fretting and unnerve her more, and that’s if she didn’t feel guilty over you having to endure all the wonderful sensory input the hospital can provide. And yeah, you'll go crazy over the thought that you could instead be out there finding out who did this. So just go ahead and tail me on the roof until we find out whether Karen can remember anything useful about her assailant, and then, if you’ve got some idea of how to go after them…”
Matt knew how much it cost her to say that to him, and he took her hand as he said, “I don’t think I’ll be out much longer. Nights are really too short right now. Besides, I’ll want to get everything back to Jessica’s apartment again before she’s likely to wake up and get mad and accuse me of deliberately trying to rouse her before noon.”
“One of his own cases wouldn’t wait. He’s anxiously waiting on the line, though.” Both those sentences were true if you stretched it enough.
“I hope he’s not wandering those streets alone right now,” Ellison shook his head. “Karen was attacked by Watchdogs, and while obviously she was more concerned with getting away when those cowards outnumbered her six to one…”
“I did stick around just long enough to hear that they objected to what the four of you are doing, and all your sneaky accomplices in the superpower-worshipping media,” Karen finished, with a tiny snort, before she added, “I’ve already texted Trish to give her a warning.”
“It’s because of the way Ross has been talking they’ve gotten so emboldened,” Ellison added. “Don’t know if you’ve heard about this, Ms. Nelson, but Karen’s the third victim of theirs in as many weeks. And that’s just the ones who lived to tell the tale. There’s also been two missing people, one registered as superpowered, the other just accused of having them.”
“Jesus,” Foggy murmured, because that news brought home the full stakes of this battle. Not to mention the knowledge that there were parts of it she couldn’t fight, and that this was why, in the end, she could never just say the city didn’t need people like Daredevil.
Who right now, on the hospital roof, was no doubt taking all this information in. Or maybe he’d had an inkling of the Watchdog attacks already. Either way he was probably mentally making plans to continue being Daredevil regularly after all, or, at the very least, until all six of the men who had attacked Karen tonight were sitting in jail cells. As, of course, he took off to try to hunt them down.
Maybe he didn’t have to do it alone this time, though. As soon as she was out of Ellison’s company, Foggy intended to call at least Danny and Colleen, who would be sure to want to help. Maybe Luke and Jessica might help as well. At the very least, she’d also call Claire, because she might be needed to help any of the victims that were afraid to go to the hospital-that was one of the dangers of the Accords that she’d recognized upon the first reading.
“If they think this is going to get me to shut up, of course,” said Karen, “they are dead wrong. And no, sir, if I’m too biased to get the byline, fine, let Jennifer keep that, but as soon as I get out of here I am going right back after them…”
“Karen…” Her boss actually sounded more alarmed than anything else.
One look at her face and Foggy took over, “Of course we’re going to investigate this, Karen. Remember Matt and I have new friends now, and they’ll be happy to help, though no, Mr. Ellison, you can’t have their names.”
Ellison just sighed, and said, “Please say they can reduce the chance of my most intrepid reporter getting killed.”
“They actually can do that,” Foggy assured him, and he looked like he believed her.
“You should call them, then,” said Karen. “Yes, now. You know at least two of them won’t mind being woken up-in fact, they’d prefer to be, if in fact they aren’t awake right now.”
Ellison looked between the two of them, and that resigned expression was one Foggy could emphasize with all too well. “I probably should be getting home anyway,” he said. “I’ll call you again in the morning. Well, after the sun rises, since it kind of is morning already.”
They did wake Colleen up. Danny, as they’d already thought he might be, was out on the streets. They could even hope Matt might seek him out, and Colleen readily agreed to call him immediately. “I can monitor the streets of much of Manhattan from here, too,” she added. “I’ll call you back when I have anything to report.”
Thankfully there was a comfortable chair next to Karen’s bed. Foggy sat down in it, saying to Karen, “Don’t worry; you won’t have to keep me entertained any. I’ll probably fall asleep within the hour, you can do the same, and hopefully when we wake up Matt will be here. Maybe you’ll even get lucky and he’ll bring some indication of you’re being discharged with him.”
“Maybe that’s a good plan,” said Karen, which was probably the exhaustion catching up with her. She lay back and closed her eyes herself.
Matt came through for them that day. Foggy woke around seven to the sound of him saying something just outside. He sounded way too sleep-deprived, but when he stepped in a moment later, he wasn’t showing any immediate signs of serious injury. On the other hand, he didn’t look happy at all. “No luck?” Foggy ventured.
“Not even with Rand’s help,” Matt sighed. “He wants to take over the grunt work for this one.”
“Let him,” Foggy urged him. “You already know there are good reasons to.” Karen echoed her.
Matt sighed, but just said, “They’ll probably be willing to discharge you after they get another look at you this morning, from what I overheard. If you don’t want to go home alone, or even at all…”
“I don’t know,” Karen replied. “Maybe I’ll spend even more time at the office. Make Ellison give up on me in despair.”
They all smiled a little at that. Then Matt turned to Foggy, and said, “I wouldn’t be able to work on any of that this evening anyway. I’ve got other business to deal with, the kind where you maybe shouldn’t wait up for me.”
“Got it.” Foggy kindly didn’t mention that the nature of that business was screamingly obvious.
Danny had taken over the search for the Watchdogs. Colleen might have been helping somewhat, but when Matt and Foggy talked with her on the second day after, she hinted that she might not want to fight that much anymore. Foggy even thought she might hang her sword up for good. Though Matt didn’t seem convinced when she mentioned her thoughts to him later. “I seriously considered it myself, you know,” he said. “After everything that happened with Elektra. But eventually…it becomes part of who you are.”
Karen’s article had come out the next day, the words pulsing with her anger, and by the day after it seemed everyone in New York had read it. Marci still wasn’t talking to Foggy too much, but she overheard her admitting she was impressed. Trish too raised hell over the radio. But the calls in from her listeners made clear how divided opinions remained. Two different people had even called Karen a liar. Trish was apparently now in an argument with her higher ups about having Karen herself come on. Karen had noted Trish’s was the only show she was currently willing to go on. “I don’t trust any other hosts not to ambush me right now,” she’d said.
It might not have been a bad thing for the four of them, for the attention to be on her. It was days Foggy and Marci could hammer out their motions without having to answer public questions about them, and Matt and Jennifer could do whatever they needed to do during them.
That Monday, there was another piece of good news, as charges against Sasha were officially dropped. She was almost amusingly exultant when she and Foggy met to settle things up, although at least Foggy managed to talk her out of a lawsuit she’d probably lose. She and Cheryl started what looked like it was going to be a peaceful lunch with their sandwiches laid out on her desk next to a bag of doritos they would probably squabble over when it got close to empty. They talked talked about the latest office gossip, which, as always, included plenty of stories about the three partners vying against each other.
“Mary insists Chao wouldn’t move against Hogarth right now, not while the Forrest case is still going on,” Cheryl said. “But maybe we’d better hope that whole business with the Hargroves wraps up before that.”
“It won’t,” Foggy sighed. “Not unless they take the plea bargain. Which they really shouldn’t, when they did nothing wrong.” She had to complain about that whenever she could, because Jeri got annoyed when she did so around her.
“It’s not the best offer right now anyway, is it?” said Cheryl. “You really should tell Jeri that actually, it does matter whether you’re righteous or not, if only because…”
A knock on the door interrupted her. Cheryl sighed, and was moving to get up, when they heard Marci’s cautious, “Foggy?”
“I’ll get it,” said Foggy, jumping up, because this definitely sounded like something had just happened.
She opened the door to a Marci who looked too wary. Cheryl could see it too, from across the room, and asked, “Okay, Ms. Stahl, what has she done wrong this time?”
Marci shook her head, but her expression didn’t change. “Have you seen the latest piece of news involving the Watchdogs?” At Foggy’s confused no, she said, “Six of them have just been found dead in an alley, shot, laid out with their masks right next to them. I don’t know if anyone’s asked Karen to identify them, or if she even would be able to, but…”
Foggy didn’t try to mask her shock, but she knew she was concealing much indeed, when she only said, “You don’t think any of us would have done that, do you, Marce?”
“Well,” Marci started, “I know it’s not even Daredevil’s style…”
“That it isn’t,” Foggy said, her anger with her rising back up. “And maybe Karen hasn’t even been their most recent target. Maybe they met their deaths at the hands of whoever was. Maybe it’s not even them. You don’t know.”
“I suppose,” said Marci. “And no, I don’t think any of the three of you would ever have voluntarily had anything to do with this, or even Daredevil…I just think the whole thing’s…”
“It kind of is,” Foggy conceded. “But let’s wait on the facts. Maybe this will sort itself out.”
Maybe indeed it would, and she, Matt, and Karen would have to try to convince the world that they’d been as in the dark as everyone else. It was hard enough right now, not blurting out to Marci and Cheryl that actually, she knew exactly what had just happened. She really should’ve been more careful what she’d wished for the previous week.