Do you have a safe place you can go to? The streets are not somewhere anyone should live.
[People do. Adults in dire situations. Junkies, runaways. Still, none of those children. Matt takes a sip of water. And reconsiders her choice of words.]
It's not safe to be out alone when you are young. Is there someone to look after you?
[Growing up without a mother or father has removed questions like where are your parents from Matt's vernacular. Not everyone has parents. Sometimes it's a grandparent. Sometimes an aunt. Sometimes...no one at all.]
Laura has seen those people. Some of them have approached her, but she avoids them for the most part. Not all of them can be trusted. Some have meant well, though. They worry like this man does. ]
Not anymore.
[ The only one who had, the one to help her escape, was dead now. The people looking for her now had done it. Gabriella had resisted. When she did not give them the answers they wanted, they killed her. ]
[He considers her words carefully. There aren't any details besides the fact that it's clear that English is not her first language and she's very self sufficient. Be that as it may, she is still a child alone. That's not right or fair. Nimble as she might be, that doesn't mean she's beyond harm. Who can guess what sort of psychological harm living on the streets has done. He sets his sandwich down beside him and turns more to her.]
My name is Matthew. What's your name?
[Because there's no way he can outright start being domineering without trying to be friendly.]
[ Laura watches him as he seems to think about the situation. She knows enough to know that she cannot stay on the street forever. It makes her easy to spot and target. It would be safer with someone else.
He had chased her that night. Does it make him safe? His concern? She doesn't know for sure. He doesn't smell like he is bad. He doesn't smell like Dr. Rice, or the Reavers. ]
Laura.
[ She takes another bite of her sandwich, hyper aware of each little movement, but makes no move to leave. ]
[This isn't a typical welfare or child services case and he knows it already. That hunch that drops on his head like a ton of bricks. Except this isn't from sensory feedback. A small, nimble and fast girl living on the streets of Hell's Kitchen that says that no place is safe. There has to be more to the story. He takes a bite of is own sandwich thoughtfully.]
Are you in trouble? What happened to the person watching out for you?
[ Matt will have to excuse her lack of basic social graces and manners. She's not used to carrying on long, drawn out conversations. This is probably the longest conversation she's had with anyone outside of the facility she came from, or her friends. Or Gabriella.
Laura takes another gulp of her too-sugary drink. ]
People are looking for me. They want to hurt me. They killed her.
[ She was nice. The nurses tried to do nice things for them. Once there was something they called a cake and they tried to sing a song to another of the group before Dr. Rice stopped it. She doesn't remember what it was called.
Sometimes they gave them toys. She likes the ball that bounces. ]
[People that would hurt a child, that would kill their guardian. Clearly more than the typical civilian danger. Matt's expression fights to keep neutral for their surroundings as well as not trying to emote too strongly. He lets himself take in the scene around them. Nothing intense, threatening or highly emotional.]
I know we just met, I want to help you if I can.
[Considering what a suspicious kid he was way back when, Matt tries to put himself in Laura's shoes. A little empathy, a little respect. Let's see where that leads.]
They kept us in a place that smelled like ---chemicals. Too clean? They wanted to make us soldiers, but we did not want to kill. Called us defective.
[ Not all of them got away. Laura fiddles a little with her sleeve, remembering the shocks that knocked others out, and how they drug them into the room and made them sleep. They didn't wake up, though. They killed them. That is what they did. ]
You are not like her. You are like me?
[ She saw the way he moved. The way he fought. That is not what the other people she's watched have done. It was the only reason she approached him after that night. Gabriela meant well, but she was not like them. Not trained like them. ]
[This is a lot of information in so many words. Whether or not it was an actual hospital or military facility, it was not at all ethical. Us. Children. The lines in Matt's brow deepen as he contemplates just what kind of a life that must have been. No wonder she happily consumes as much garbage food as possible--besides being a kid--anything from the outside must have been better.
And as though he wasn't already feeling himself pulled to help her cause, being a child trained for the art of war and then discarded. God doesn't always have subtlety.]
I'm different, yes.
[Since she's sharing so much of this, how can he just say no? Matt wants Laura to trust her. Though caution in this circumstance is completely and utterly understandable.]
[ There's a little furrow in between his eyes. He's concerned again, she can smell it on him too. It wasn't a life. They were tools to be used. They weren't even thought of as children. ]
Out here you---hide it? To be safe?
[ From what she's seen of this world outside the hospital she came from, they do not like different things. They like soft and gentle. They like ordinary. She's just learning what that means. It is hard for her to do.
Matt tells her about not liking bad people, but that he doesn't kill. She feels that strange feeling in her chest that she did after training. After they tried to hurt all of them. The men she stopped. She killed them.
She knows that. Knows that she had no choice. It does not make the feeling go away. It doesn't make her anger go away. ]
To be safe, yes. And to protect people I'm close to.... hiding in plain sight.
[Which makes him smirk. The turn of phrase is lost in Spanish. Perhaps the context might still find humor. Even if it doesn't, an odd moment to be sardonic.
Laura's heart is beating faster, and while he can't see her expression, Matt can guess that he's taking this conversation to a moral place.]
I don't doubt you, people who want to hurt children are vile. I'm sorry that happened... I'm sure you had to do things that you weren't proud of to be here.
[Maybe it wasn't all out killing someone. Maybe it was stealing, lying, doing things that could be construed as bad.]
[ The humor is a little lost on her. She doesn't have a lot of experience with things like that. Give her time.
Her heartbeat slows a little when Matt continues, but it doesn't make the feeling go away. She doesn't want to talk about the things that she's done. The people she's hurt. ]
I did bad things. Some---they asked me to. Others---to leave that place.
I'm not sure. They have to find me first. I don't think it would be nice.
[To put it lightly. For that he doesn't smile, not at all. Matt takes a risk and gently scoots over on the bench. She might act like a scared, feral cat. Getting her indoors might be a struggle, yes. Best done without tricks or traps.]
The best news is that you lived through that.
[Keeping his voice low and steady in hopes of being calming.]
[ People do not like things that are not normal. She's learned that. It scares them when things are different. When people are not like them. ]
They will keep looking for me.
[ But Laura things, just maybe, that she might be safe with him. She watches him scoot closer, but nothing in his body language or scent changes to indicate that he's a threat. She takes another bite of her sandwich, and swallows it down with more too-sugary drink. ]
[Not as a child, no. And not in the means to protect someone who needs guidance. A young girl treated as a weapon. Matt believes that a benevolent deity sets events into motion on purpose. What would Elektra have been like if someone could have saved her sooner?]
[ They only began to try and kill the children, hurt them, after they made the new weapon. The one that was better than them. That was when they started killing the others. ]
[Whatever upgrade they have is valuable enough for them to flat out seek to destroy the previous attempts. That makes Matt's blood run cold and he almost squishes his sandwich in anger. No person, no child should endure that.]
I would do everything I can. You don't have to live on the streets, some place clean and safe.
[But where, Murdock? All he has right now in his head is his own apartment. Can he really take care of a young person?]
[ Her attention is taken by the way his emotions seem to overcome him suddenly. She still does not understand the nuance of why certain things upset so many. She knows that the life she knows is not typical. Not normal of children.
She knows the feeling he has, though. Anger. She knows that one well. ]
[For now he feels a swell of elation that snuffs out the worry. Matt will leave this encounter with a sense of accomplishment. Reality will set in. There needs to be more money to support not one but two lives. More money. Entertainment. He would have to look long and hard at his finances, yes.
If it means that he could keep this girl, Laura safe? It would be all worth it. One more young life safe. No other young person living with the burden in their head and heart of being someone's weapon. A Black Skye saved.]
Please meet me here before sunset. I have to finish my work day, after I will take you t my home.
[It's the best he can think of of the top of his head right now.]
[ That she agrees to want to stay with him makes the scent of anger fade, and become friendlier. His heartbeat seems to slow a little in response, and it makes her feel better that he is not so upset anymore. She takes another sip of her drink and nods, scooting a bit so she can slide off the bench and stand. ]
I will be here.
[ She starts to put her things in the little backpack that she got from the man at the bodega. Once it's packed, she starts away from Matt, and heads back towards the more crowded streets. There are a few groups of children that make it easier for her to hide in plain sight. Once it grows darker and she is certain that no one else is following her, she makes her way back to the park bench, and climbs up to sit quietly. ]
[She moves and he tilts his head, paying attention. It's her life, as young as she may be, the experience she's gone through have made her the mistress of her fate. He holds his breath and lets it out at the words. Matt smiles.
Okay, Murdock. Your work is cut out for you. He can only get a vague sense of her trail with her breathing. The smell, unwashed and riddled with sugar and processed food sticks out. She's picked her hiding space well.
The day goes on and Matt leaves the office early, claiming he has an errand. It's not a lie. He is at the bodega again getting a less dubious sandwich with other snacks. For himself and for Laura. He grabs a bag of Doritos as an impulse buy. A hefty sum later he walks to the bench, large plastic bag in one hand, cane in the other.]
[ It's a good spot, this bench. She can hear the park around her, the more distant sounds towards the street. It's easy to pick up on when people enter the park and approach from the bench. She wonders if that's why Matthew liked it.
By the time he gets there, she's finished her snacks, and is sitting with her hood up over her head. There are a few odd looks from people, but nothing suspicious. They just wonder, she imagines, because she is alone. When Matt approaches, they do not wonder anymore.
Laura stands up when he arrives, and adjusts her backpack to sit more comfortably on her shoulders. ]
[A very clear means of taking in the scenery all around does make it a wonderful spot. When you don't have eyes you have to sight see in different ways. The trees are very nice here as well, large and rustling. They cut the heat of the midday sun. In these later hours when the shadows are long, it is cooler. Far more quiet. Most New Yorker's would prefer to head home if they can help it. A stray jogger or a dog walker is close by.
Matt's pace remainds the same. He is relieved that she's there. And even more that it does not seem as though they are being watched or followed.]
Yes, we can go now.
[He even smiles at her.]
Because I cannot see and you can, may I please touch your arm as we walk?
[ Laura isn't one to simply stop and sight see in any way. She does get curious sometimes, though, about different things. Curious about people. About the small groups, families. She's heard the word, but she doesn't know what it means.
She can tell that he's checking the area in his own way. Listening. Scenting the air. If there had been people watching or following, she would not be there. It would be too dangerous for both of them. This man is nice. She does not want what happened to Gabriella to happen to him.
Laura walks up to him, tilting her head when he asks that, and mutters a quick yes before offering up her arm. ]
[Danger or not, he would have come. Matt said he would. And he knows the weight of promises. If he wanted her trust he shouldn't break it in the first damn day.
Matt gently touches her arm and taps his cane. Just the right tableau. And away they go. Through the part. As she moves there is a hardly audible noise he can't place and a heaviness to her limbs that he never would have expected. What...is that? Is that metal?]
You've eaten enough for the night?
[He could get some groceries delivered if needed be. It's very clear the appetites are not the same.
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[People do. Adults in dire situations. Junkies, runaways. Still, none of those children. Matt takes a sip of water. And reconsiders her choice of words.]
It's not safe to be out alone when you are young. Is there someone to look after you?
[Growing up without a mother or father has removed questions like where are your parents from Matt's vernacular. Not everyone has parents. Sometimes it's a grandparent. Sometimes an aunt. Sometimes...no one at all.]
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[ She repeats the words almost exactly.
Laura has seen those people. Some of them have approached her, but she avoids them for the most part. Not all of them can be trusted. Some have meant well, though. They worry like this man does. ]
Not anymore.
[ The only one who had, the one to help her escape, was dead now. The people looking for her now had done it. Gabriella had resisted. When she did not give them the answers they wanted, they killed her. ]
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My name is Matthew. What's your name?
[Because there's no way he can outright start being domineering without trying to be friendly.]
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He had chased her that night. Does it make him safe? His concern? She doesn't know for sure. He doesn't smell like he is bad. He doesn't smell like Dr. Rice, or the Reavers. ]
Laura.
[ She takes another bite of her sandwich, hyper aware of each little movement, but makes no move to leave. ]
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[This isn't a typical welfare or child services case and he knows it already. That hunch that drops on his head like a ton of bricks. Except this isn't from sensory feedback. A small, nimble and fast girl living on the streets of Hell's Kitchen that says that no place is safe. There has to be more to the story. He takes a bite of is own sandwich thoughtfully.]
Are you in trouble? What happened to the person watching out for you?
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Laura takes another gulp of her too-sugary drink. ]
People are looking for me. They want to hurt me. They killed her.
[ She was nice. The nurses tried to do nice things for them. Once there was something they called a cake and they tried to sing a song to another of the group before Dr. Rice stopped it. She doesn't remember what it was called.
Sometimes they gave them toys. She likes the ball that bounces. ]
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[People that would hurt a child, that would kill their guardian. Clearly more than the typical civilian danger. Matt's expression fights to keep neutral for their surroundings as well as not trying to emote too strongly. He lets himself take in the scene around them. Nothing intense, threatening or highly emotional.]
I know we just met, I want to help you if I can.
[Considering what a suspicious kid he was way back when, Matt tries to put himself in Laura's shoes. A little empathy, a little respect. Let's see where that leads.]
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[ Not all of them got away. Laura fiddles a little with her sleeve, remembering the shocks that knocked others out, and how they drug them into the room and made them sleep. They didn't wake up, though. They killed them. That is what they did. ]
You are not like her. You are like me?
[ She saw the way he moved. The way he fought. That is not what the other people she's watched have done. It was the only reason she approached him after that night. Gabriela meant well, but she was not like them. Not trained like them. ]
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And as though he wasn't already feeling himself pulled to help her cause, being a child trained for the art of war and then discarded. God doesn't always have subtlety.]
I'm different, yes.
[Since she's sharing so much of this, how can he just say no? Matt wants Laura to trust her. Though caution in this circumstance is completely and utterly understandable.]
While I don't like bad people, I do not kill.
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Out here you---hide it? To be safe?
[ From what she's seen of this world outside the hospital she came from, they do not like different things. They like soft and gentle. They like ordinary. She's just learning what that means. It is hard for her to do.
Matt tells her about not liking bad people, but that he doesn't kill. She feels that strange feeling in her chest that she did after training. After they tried to hurt all of them. The men she stopped. She killed them.
She knows that. Knows that she had no choice. It does not make the feeling go away. It doesn't make her anger go away. ]
People hurt me.
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[Which makes him smirk. The turn of phrase is lost in Spanish. Perhaps the context might still find humor. Even if it doesn't, an odd moment to be sardonic.
Laura's heart is beating faster, and while he can't see her expression, Matt can guess that he's taking this conversation to a moral place.]
I don't doubt you, people who want to hurt children are vile. I'm sorry that happened... I'm sure you had to do things that you weren't proud of to be here.
[Maybe it wasn't all out killing someone. Maybe it was stealing, lying, doing things that could be construed as bad.]
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[ The humor is a little lost on her. She doesn't have a lot of experience with things like that. Give her time.
Her heartbeat slows a little when Matt continues, but it doesn't make the feeling go away. She doesn't want to talk about the things that she's done. The people she's hurt. ]
I did bad things. Some---they asked me to. Others---to leave that place.
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[To put it lightly. For that he doesn't smile, not at all. Matt takes a risk and gently scoots over on the bench. She might act like a scared, feral cat. Getting her indoors might be a struggle, yes. Best done without tricks or traps.]
The best news is that you lived through that.
[Keeping his voice low and steady in hopes of being calming.]
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They will keep looking for me.
[ But Laura things, just maybe, that she might be safe with him. She watches him scoot closer, but nothing in his body language or scent changes to indicate that he's a threat. She takes another bite of her sandwich, and swallows it down with more too-sugary drink. ]
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[Not as a child, no. And not in the means to protect someone who needs guidance. A young girl treated as a weapon. Matt believes that a benevolent deity sets events into motion on purpose. What would Elektra have been like if someone could have saved her sooner?]
I want to help you. I'm very good at hiding.
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[ They only began to try and kill the children, hurt them, after they made the new weapon. The one that was better than them. That was when they started killing the others. ]
You can help me hide?
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I would do everything I can. You don't have to live on the streets, some place clean and safe.
[But where, Murdock? All he has right now in his head is his own apartment. Can he really take care of a young person?]
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She knows the feeling he has, though. Anger. She knows that one well. ]
I would like to stay with you.
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If it means that he could keep this girl, Laura safe? It would be all worth it. One more young life safe. No other young person living with the burden in their head and heart of being someone's weapon. A Black Skye saved.]
Please meet me here before sunset. I have to finish my work day, after I will take you t my home.
[It's the best he can think of of the top of his head right now.]
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I will be here.
[ She starts to put her things in the little backpack that she got from the man at the bodega. Once it's packed, she starts away from Matt, and heads back towards the more crowded streets. There are a few groups of children that make it easier for her to hide in plain sight. Once it grows darker and she is certain that no one else is following her, she makes her way back to the park bench, and climbs up to sit quietly. ]
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Okay, Murdock. Your work is cut out for you. He can only get a vague sense of her trail with her breathing. The smell, unwashed and riddled with sugar and processed food sticks out. She's picked her hiding space well.
The day goes on and Matt leaves the office early, claiming he has an errand. It's not a lie. He is at the bodega again getting a less dubious sandwich with other snacks. For himself and for Laura. He grabs a bag of Doritos as an impulse buy. A hefty sum later he walks to the bench, large plastic bag in one hand, cane in the other.]
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By the time he gets there, she's finished her snacks, and is sitting with her hood up over her head. There are a few odd looks from people, but nothing suspicious. They just wonder, she imagines, because she is alone. When Matt approaches, they do not wonder anymore.
Laura stands up when he arrives, and adjusts her backpack to sit more comfortably on her shoulders. ]
We go now?
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Matt's pace remainds the same. He is relieved that she's there. And even more that it does not seem as though they are being watched or followed.]
Yes, we can go now.
[He even smiles at her.]
Because I cannot see and you can, may I please touch your arm as we walk?
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She can tell that he's checking the area in his own way. Listening. Scenting the air. If there had been people watching or following, she would not be there. It would be too dangerous for both of them. This man is nice. She does not want what happened to Gabriella to happen to him.
Laura walks up to him, tilting her head when he asks that, and mutters a quick yes before offering up her arm. ]
It is on your right, just below your arm now.
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Matt gently touches her arm and taps his cane. Just the right tableau. And away they go. Through the part. As she moves there is a hardly audible noise he can't place and a heaviness to her limbs that he never would have expected. What...is that? Is that metal?]
You've eaten enough for the night?
[He could get some groceries delivered if needed be. It's very clear the appetites are not the same.
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