4633/What Now

What Now
Date of Scene:	12 June 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Luke Cage, Daredevil

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Luke Cage has posed:
Luke is driving through light early morning traffic. He picks up his cellphone and dials Matt Murdock.

?Yo, I?m on the way to your place. We gotta talk,? he tells Matt and hangs up. A short while later he pulls up near Matt?s place and makes his way up to knock on the door.

Daredevil has posed:
The night been crazy and emotional. Not to mention Matt had entirely too much to drink. So, when Elektra had said her goodbyes before the city had woken up, Matt had resoved to lay back down and go to sleep. It hadn't worked that way, he tossed, he turned and ultimately, he found himself sitting in the middle of his living room having downed big bottle of water and performing his 'bullshit meditation', as Claire called it, to shake off the effects of his hangover. It had worked, mostly, when his phone rings and Luke lets him know he's on the way.

"Great, see you soon," is all Matt gets in before the other man hangs up. Matt gets up, tosses his water bottle into the trash, then goes and gets out of his sweats and tanktop into his clothes tor the day, minus the suit jacket and tie.

When he hears Luke on the stairs, he already has coffee on, and he's at the door a moment or two after the first knock. "Hey, Luke," he says letting the man in. "Got coffee going ."

Luke Cage has posed:
"Hey, Matt," he says. "I don't usually drink coffee, but after last night I'll make an exception."

He follows Matt into the kitchen and leans against a counter with his arms folded. "You look like shit. How much did you have last night?"

Daredevil has posed:
"Great," Matt says closing the door and ushering Luke into the spacious loft. There is a self-depricating smile from Matt as considers Luke's question, "A few," he admits. Heading over to the kitchen nodding for Luke to grab a seat somewhere. He gets the pot out of the machine and brings down a couple of mugs, with just the two of them in the room Matt moves as smoothly as he does when he's in the suit, not bothering with pretending his other senses don't give him a huge edge over your average blind guy. "How do you take it?" he asks.

Whatever the answer Matt pours his black and sets up Luke's as well.

"Anyhow, last night, it was intense, and not how I wanted all of that to go," he says by way of beginning his explanation.

Luke Cage has posed:
?Black, thanks,? Luke says.

He takes a sip and makes a slight face at the unaccustomed bitterness of it. But he was going on no sleep and even Power Man could run out of gas.

?None of us were at our finest. For what it?s worth, I?m sorry I lost my cool. Shouldn?t have talked to you like that.?

Daredevil has posed:
Matt smiles as he takes a seat. "Don't worry about it, it was justified.I lied to you guys when I shouldn't have, if anyone should be apologizing, it should be me," he says. "And I am sorry, Luke."

He lifts his head, his red tinted glasses in place over sightless eyes, "Besides, after Claire, what you had to say was pretty tame," he offers lightly.

Luke Cage has posed:
?Yeah, be glad she didn?t have a knife,? Luke says wryly. ?And I?d giver some space. She?s mad, and scared.?

He puts his coffee down and his hands against the counter behind him.

?So just how long has this thing been going??

Daredevil has posed:
Matt exhales a "Heh," he says. "Might need some unbrekable skin of my own . And yeah, will give her some space, but when you see her, let her know I'm sorry."

He doubted it'd help much, in fact he's fairly sure she'll roll her eyes at the notion, but it had to be said.

Matt let's out a breath, "That's a hard question to answer. Elektra and I met in college, and after..." he doesn't elaborate. "I didn't see her until last year and didn't know about the Hand until this March. Was that what you were after?" he asks.

Luke Cage has posed:
?I?ll tell Claire, but Sweet Christmas, Matt. March? And you waited this long to say anything? Claire was right, you had to know it was going to go bad.?

Luke shakes his head. ?And is it over?? he asks.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt lifts his shades and scrubs a hand across his face, considering his answer, and when his shades are back in place, he has one, the truth. "Yeah, March," he says. "And I knew when we got back together, well, as much as we ever got back together. At first, I kept it secret because I thought I could fix this, that I could pull her out of there and save her. Then when it became clear that wasn't happeing, she told me to let her go, to walk away, and I didn't listen. That's about when the thing with Claire happened. Which is about all that has happened since then until last night."

That brings them to the other question, he'd gone this far, he figures he might as well go those last difficult steps, "She was here last night."

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage blinks. ?Last night? You?re telling me after...? cuts himself off.

?Four million women in New York, Matt, and you gotta shack up with head of the /Hand/,? Luke says and crosses his arms. ?You ain?t no fool, Murdock, but you got it bad.?

Daredevil has posed:
Matt sighs into his coffee as he takes a sip. "Yeah," he says.

He tries to put a brave face on it and smiles, "To be fair I knew her before she was the head of the Hand," the joke was lame and probably not very funny under the circumstances. He smiles apologetically. "Bad joke, but the thing is it wasn't like this was her life ambition or anything, she hated the Hand as much as anybody I knew, and she was doing a good job of taking them out until they reached a stalemate, and forced to choose between a lifetime of warfare with the Hand or having a chance to steer them in another direction she chose what she felt was the lesser of the two evils. As for me and her, well how do you turn away from someone who's made that kind of choice? How do you say, sorry, honey, shame about where you're at, but I can't be with you, hope when the Hand gets the balance back they kill you quick."

His knuckeles are white around his coffee. "Even if she wasn't Elektra, I'd have a hard time not wanting to help her, but she is Elektra and it makes it feel no matter how much she protests, I have to do something."

"What I didn't want, what I don't want, is for other people to get hurt."

Luke Cage has posed:
"Too late," Luke says and lets it hang there between them.

He drinks from his coffee and looks out the window at the creeping daylight. Usually the sun rise made everything easier, made it make more sense. Luke was not sure he liked what the light was bringing out this morning.

"So it's that serious then. You're willing to lay it all out for her, even if it means the Hand never stops chasing you?" he asks. "Is that what you're saying?"

Daredevil has posed:
"I know," Matt says, ashamed.

Matt's quiet while Luke sips his coffee. There was no point in pushing things.

"Daredevil has crossed the Hand before, so has Danny, I was already on their shit list, so this didn't so much add a problem as speed one up. And no, I'm not saying I am planning to run away with her and let the Hand chase us. Claire, Foggy, Karen they'd all pay the price there. What I am trying to do is hold the line, keep us all safe until there's either a chance to get her free or..." he says, before clamping down hard on his emotions. "Things go the other way."

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke nods, a small look of relief crosses his features. Then he exhales deeply. "Let's be real. This point, they might pay the price no matter what. They're not stupid, hurting you and yours will still hurt her if you two stopped seeing each other tomorrow. Truth is, they're gonna eat her alive if she doesn't get out. You know I came up rough, and I've seen what it takes to make it. After the way she talked last night, and what's going on here... Either Elektra's playing you bad, or she ain't got it," he warns Matt. "Not even close."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt nods solemnly. There was no arguing with that logic. The Hand may well come after them even if he left for the other side of the planet on the first flight out of JFK.

"Elektra's stronger than she looks," he assures Luke. "But if you have an idea of how to get her out of there, I'm all ears," he says.

Luke Cage has posed:
"She might be strong, but if she really cares about the people around her? If she's not stacking bodies right now to prove a point to the people coming after her?" Luke shakes his head. "And if she is stacking bodies, I don't think you could live with that."

Luke considers Matt for a long moment. "This point? Only way is forward; we take down the Hand. Unless you plan on putting everyone in hiding."

Daredevil has posed:
"Not that I know of," Matt says of Elektra stacking bodies. She might be for all he knew, or rather wanted to know, but he'd been careful to keep that part of their dance intact.

Matt grimaces. "They're huge though Luke, world-wide. The guy who trained me he and these others have been trying to take them down for years, they haven't done it yet. That said, you're not wrong, that's the only way I see this turning out our way."

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke cocks his head slightly. "They've never gone up against us before. We call in the others, and by the time we're done, either the Hand is in ashes or they cut a deal with us to cut their losses. And maybe we accept," Luke says. "Maybe."

Daredevil has posed:
"And we've never really faced them full-force before," Matt says in counter-point even as he considers things. "We'd have to do this right, and on our terms, if we fight it on their's, or we tip our hand, we're done. Which means we need to buy some time while we plan. And when the time comes, make sure our people are safe."

The other side of this was would Elektra agree to it. He hoped she would, but she had a view of the Hand they didn't.

Luke Cage has posed:
"Yeah," Luke agrees. "We don't know enough about them. We need inside information on who's moving against her, and how the Hand is set up."

Luke thinks about it for a bit. "Was Elektra being serious about hiring me to protect her?" he asks. "Because that would put me on the inside, right beside her."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt nods. "Yeah, we will definitely need to know more."

"And huh, see I thought that's what she said too," Matt says sounding slightly vindicated. "But what she meant was she wanted to hire you to protect me and Claire. Though if we're going to try to take down the Hand, things work better the other way."

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke frowns and shakes his head. "She thinks she's gonna pay me to look after my own?" he asks, insulted. "That ain't happening, I got you guys. She can pay," he says. He drains the rest of his coffee.

"There's a condition though. Once we've got the information we need, she leaves the Hand. No matter what."

Daredevil has posed:
"She just wanted to be sure we were looked after, but yeah, see your point," Matt says as he sets down his coffee.

"Well that one sounds more situational than hard and fast," Matt says. "If Elektra is better help to us in place for whatever we have planned or not. That is if she's willing to agree in the first place. That's not an answer I have."

Luke Cage has posed:
"It's more than that, Matt," Luke says seriously. "More than tactics, and it's somethin' you gotta face head on if we're doing this. You said she only joined the Hand to avoid a war. Well the war's coming anyway now, and life is calling her bluff. Either she leaves.... Or I guess that tells you which side she's on, and who's more important; you or the Hand."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt hadn't seen it that way, but Luke's words made it clear. "Well, like I said that's something to put to her, but I see what you're saying," he says. "Which means we probably need to meet with her again, I can reach out, see if we can find a spot to do that won't tip off the Hand. Might take a couple of days."

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke nods and pushes up from the counter. "Thanks for the coffee, " he says and sets down the cup. He makes his way to the door with Matt and turns back after steps into the hallway. "Watch your back, alright?" he says to Matt and holds out a hand to him.

Daredevil has posed:
"You're welcome," Matt says. 'I'll have something else for you next time," he adds before getitng up and walking Luke to the door.

"You too, Luke. And sorry to make my trouble your trouble," he says taking the man's hand for a shake.

Luke Cage has posed:
"I know you are. We'll sort it out." He assures Matt.

Then he flips up his hood, turns and makes his way back down to his car.