Chapter Text
"Picked his bones in whispers.
As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool."
-T.S. Eliot
2025
"Dude. How could you not tell me?" Foggy stands with his hands on his hips in perfect scolding form. Matt tries not to grin even though he can perfectly picture his dad using the same tactic when Matt stole his boxing gloves the first time. Okay, maybe he had been scolded because he used them to punch a playground bully. But that's beside the point.
"Objection." says Matt smirking.
"Denied."
Matt can hear in the beating of Foggy's heart that he isn't really angry. "Yeah, okay, I know Tony Stark?" he gives.
"Tony. Stark."
"Yup."
"You bitch."
"Yup." Matt turns back to the casefile he is working on. Honestly, since he had come out to the world about his 'superhero by night and lawyer by day' lifestyle, work had been much more forthcoming. Nelson and Murdock had never been more lucrative, and Matt had never felt more....carefree. The guilt that tainted his life was lifted when the stain of organized crime in Hell's Kitchen had been broken. Of course, there was always petty crime in case Matt needed a break, but overall, criminals knew that the Devil protected their city. Organized crime was at record lows. Of course, making a deal with the Avengers to help protect his territory came with the cost of outsourcing his firm to Tony but it was well worth it. And Tony knew that morally grey was not a thing Nelson and Murdock protected. Win win. Well, just because Matt offered their services did not mean Tony actually took him up on it. He had a legion of lawyers, why would he care about a small time company?
"Okay I thought we agreed after that whole hiding-the-world-on-fire fiasco you'd stop lying by omission?"
"Honestly? I forgot."
"You forgot you know Tony Stark? You know the worst part of that is that I totally believe you, right? Only you would forget you knew the billionaire, leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. superhero. Why the hell did I marry you anyway?"
"Because of my sweet ass?"
"Yes. No. Stop confusing the issue dammit."
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"Okay, can you arrange a superhero playdate thing and come by the office? Tony Stark is, like, amazing. Do you think he would sign my Avengers poster? I shouldn't, should I? Matt what are you doing stop laughing at me this is serious."
"Foggy, just because I know the guy doesn't mean we team up on a regular basis." Matt resumes typing.
"Okay, but if you do and don't swing by I'm never speaking to you again." Foggy says crossing his arms. Lie Matt thinks but says nothing.
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"Karen! You're back! How was the engagement?" Foggy envelops the blonde in a huge bear hug.
"Ahh, death by Foggy. I'm dying" Karen laughs, "Nat is doing lovely, Foggy, thanks. It turns out a siesta was just what we both needed. Oh! Matt, I could barely see you under that stack of papers. Are you that lost without me?"
"Of course, Karen" Matt says smiling, he tilts his head in greeting, marks his place with a neon pink sticky note (Foggy's gift) and stands to give her a hug.
"Hey, you think we'll just become one of those old married couple friends?" Karen asks as Matt approaches.
"We can only hope." Matt says quirking his lips.
"Well, I brought in the mail. It came in just as I was coming up the steps." Karen says laying the letters on the closest stack of folders. "I may not be your secretary anymore, but you need someone to help you organize things! Can I please call her?"
"Oh come on," Foggy says, surreptitiously stealing the mail before Matt has a chance. "We arn't going to replace you with your sister, no matter how qualified she is. We are perfectly adult, uh, adults."
"Clearly," Karen smirks going to her pristine desk, gesturing at Matt's clutter.
"She just pointed at you, Matt. So i'll have you know this is all your fault. I won't have your mess disgracing the Nelson-Murdock name." Foggy rants, sorting through the mail. "Bill. Bill. Hey, payment. Mark down O'Malley as paid in full, won't you Karen?"
"Not your secretary."
"Okay, fine. As a friend-temporarily-acting-as-secretary-because-she-quit-with-no-notice-and-eloped?"
"Yessir." Karen says, saluting.
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"Bill. Bill. My dentist wants a checkup." Foggy mutters to himself. Matt has told him before that even though he can technically eavesdrop if he focuses, he much prefers Foggy's low tones in the background as he works. He used to worry about all that heartbeat nonsense too, but he doesn't have any secrets from Matt, not anymore. "Wait. What."
Matt sits up at his desk. "Huh?"
"What." Foggy repeats, walking over to Matt's desk and dropping a letter on top of his hands which were previously busy doing actual work. Matt runs his fingers over the ink on the letter, the slightly raised dried ink allowing him to clearly read the words 'Stark Gala. You're invited. Be there or be square.' with a doodle of Cap's shield over the word 'square'.
"Oh? Do you want to go?"Matt says reveling in the staccato pattern of Foggy's excited heartbeat.
"Do I want to--of course I want to go you idiot."
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"Is this your plus one, Mr. Nelson-Murdock?" says a calm, british voice from the ceiling says as soon as they step into the lobby.
Foggy jumps a few feet in the air. Matt laughs, bright and loud, "That's just Jarvis."
"Oh, uh, yeah I knew that." Foggy mutters, heating slightly.
"Yeah, Jarv, he's my plus one. Which floor is Tony on?"
"Sir is on the balcony of the hundred and second, if you would be so kind?" Jarvis responds pleasantly, opening the doors of one of the elevators.
"I..." Foggy mutters as they start their ascent, at Matt's questioning look he responds "Just wow." as he stares out of the glassed elevator rising high above the rest of the city. "Hell's Kitchen is gorgeous from here."
"Describe it to me." Matt says laying his head on his husbands shoulder.
"It looks exactly as its always looked, right down to that ugly rusted water tower I keep telling you about, you know, the one that is so rusted that the only white part left is just spray paint."
Matt smiles against his shoulder. "Sounds lovely."
"Yeah, buddy, yeah it does."
------
"So this must be the Murdock to his Nelson!" Tony grins as the two approach, charismatic as always. "Or the Nelson to his Murdock? I always get it confused." Tony says unapologetically.
"And some people wonder why we hyphenated." Matt says.
"Nah that was just so we could keep the name on the door the same." Foggy contributes.
A loud crunch ensues from the bar where the glass has been deem unworthy of the hammer placed upon it. "Oh no. Not again. Listen, it was wonderful meeting you but I have to go yell at a Norse god now." Tony rushes, jogging towards the afflicted bar.
"Well, that was Tony Stark." Matt says helpfully.
"I now know why they say never meet your heroes." Foggy replies.
"Not what you expected?"
"No, pretty much exactly what I expected, but turns out I like my own superhero better." Foggy says giving Matt a quick kiss.
Matt just grins.
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Look at how much has changed, Foggy thinks. His thoughts are slightly muggy from the few sips of mead earlier, but he is nothing if not a happy drunk. He is currently parked on the plush sofa watching Matt mingle and charm. A decade ago Matt would have faked a smile and swallowed his raging guilt at every single thing gone wrong, lying to everyone just trying to save them from himself. To save them from helping him. From getting involved. This Matt though, this Matt is freer. Not just the fact that he personally cleaned the organized crime syndicates from the city he loves, but also from telling the world about his abilities. He doesn't have to put up a front anymore.
Matt laughs softly at a joke some woman in a stunning deep blue gown says. Foggy might be a bit drunk, but he still notices how Matt's head ticks to the side every so often, listening. Matt told him once that Foggy's heartbeat grounds him, makes him feel safe. Ever since then Foggy has noticed how often Matt reassures himself that his husband is near, and safe.
Oh he really is drunk. How is the mead still kicking in? Foggy swears he's no lightweight, but that Asgardian mead was something else.
Oh god, Foggy is going to be sick.
Don't puke on the billionaires nice things. Don't puke on the billionaires nice things.
"Matt, I gotta go to the bathroom, I'll be back in a sec." Foggy manages knowing that his husband will hear his voice from across the room and bolts to find a restroom.
Why are none of these doors marked. Where the hell is---. Ulp. Foggy picks the first door he can, desperate to get away from the party to be miserable in solitude. Maybe he'll get lucky. He runs through the door.
Machinery, Machinery, oh garbage can. Bingo. And just in time, oh Go---.
Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Foggy looks around. Just machinery? But...hm....what if the Iron Man armor is here? That's better than a signed poster any day.
He walks around the center table. No, not a table. It's some sort of human sized cylindrical container. It appears to be white painted metal, except it has windows surrounding it with ledges coming off the sills which gives it an almost 360 degree shelf. All sorts of wires are clumped on the shelves and even more dust is clumped in between them. Lights are blinking behind the darkened windows. Some sort of control panel? It has 'Property of Reed Richards' in black paint on the bit underneath the ledge. Odd. Everyone knows the Fantastic Four only sell Reed's inventions when they are so heavily in debt they can't afford not to. And that has not happened in a while since their merch took off. They even put in a shop in the lobby of the Baxter building.
Maybe Tony has reverse engineered some of Reed's tech into suits? Foggy walks around the control panel, finding a small opening which allows him to go to the center and take a good look at the machinery.
Hey, couldn't hurt. Might be a cool story to tell Karen.
A door slams shut behind him, locking itself with a succinct click. What the heck. He's trapped inside the cylinder.
The entire circle is made up of small buttons and levers, one of them must open the door. Foggy looks around. It almost looks like a sounding board except there is a central display which reads 'Chitauri information gathering experiment 4-11-12'. Weird. The Chitauri invasion hallmarked the strengthening of the mob in Hell's Kitchen with the rebuilding process, why else is there to investigate? Everyone knows the Avengers won that day.
Foggy turns around, next to the door he came in is a large red button labeled 'Leave'.
"Finally." Foggy says out loud as he presses the button.
The world starts to bend and twist before it disappears altogether into a tunnel of light.