5915/I Know it Was You!

I Know it Was You!
Date of Scene:	04 December 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Matt and Kate meet to discuss their plan and a certain photo. New rules are set and the papparazzi get an even better shot!
Cast of Characters:	Daredevil, Hawkeye (Bishop)

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Daredevil has posed:
The members of Nelson and Murdock weren't big 'gossip' people so it took Foggy bumping into Marci for the news of the picture to filter into Matt's world. Foggy had reported Marci's words as 'Tell Matt good job on landing a Bishop', from there it came to finding and having the picture described to him.

Of course even if it hadn't been Marci, it would have been Kosmos, the head of Hellas International, who called to 'check in' not long after Matt had heard of the picture. Enquiring in directly about Matt's social calendar.

He knew the man was mad, but he'd done the best to deflect until he got off the phone.

That was the point though right? Make it look like he and Kate were in a relationship?

Then why was he worried?

All the same he sends a text:

>> Kate, we should talk.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate, however, had found out no sooner than Matt, but in an equally distressing fashion: Her mother had called, gushing over the fact of Kate's new beau, and when were they going to be able to meet him? That she'd made reservations for them all for Friday night at Georgian Creeds, and be sure to wear that dress her father liked, and to remind her man to wear a tie - it might not be formal at Georgian Creeds, but her father was always formal.

And that's when it hit her. Both that somehow her careful plans to introduce Matt over the holiday party season and be seen on his arm had gane awry, and that her father already knew about him.

She'd found the articles with ease after that. All of them speculating on the relationship, and how much of a gold digger *was* this Matt Murdoch, with plenty of counters coming out about his selfless nature and bro bono docket. Still, there was chatter. Too much of it. And Kate had no idea how to do damage control on this one.

She'd just been about to text Matt herself when his message hit her.

>> Agreed. Where? Ugh. It's going to be a madhouse, but this is what we signed up for. ~K

Daredevil has posed:
Where? That was the question wasn't it.

>> My place? Or does that just set us up for a bunch of stories about us sleeping together? I don't know how much talking we'd get done in public.

There was a pause as he thought about it.

>> Come here, I meet you out front, give them some fodder for the cameras then we retreat upstairs?

While waiting for a reply Matt heads to his bedroom, chainging to something more casual than a suit, but not quite as casual as his 'around the house' sweats and hoodie combo.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
>>Uh... My dad knows. I'd rather not field the sleeping together phone calls just yet? Got anywhere quiet we can go instead?

Because while 'sleeping over' had totally been on the planned agenda, those plans had been thrown out the wayside, and until Kate felt on top of the plan, or at least held a handful of alternatives, she wasn't ready to switch from the 'why don't you give up that foolish idea' conversation to 'who is this man and why are you sleeping with him' followed by the inevitable background search.

Okay, the background search was going to come regardless, but she wanted her father to embrace the relationship, not have to defend it to him.

All of this had suddenly gotten extremely out of hand.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt pulls on a button down, and tucks it into the waste of a clean pair of jeans, and has the phone read out Kate's text.

He considers her question while he goes searching for his winter coat and scarf.

>> Good point. Quiet and private, Fogwell's. Quiet and public, Mercutio's. That what you're thinking?

He pockets his phone and pulls on the coat then wraps the scarf around his neck.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
>>Mercutio's! That's it.

One can almost hear the snap of *exactly* in her fingers and voice as his mentioning there triggers the memory of exactly what she'd been looking for but failing to come up with.

>>Public, but without anyone getting to pry too much. You know?

Because Fogwells? Well she didn't think he really wanted prying eyes into there.

Kate makes her way to Mercutio's, likewise prepared for the day to change its mind from unseasonably warm to rather more wintery temps.

Daredevil has posed:
>> See you there.

Once the text is fired off, Matt is out the door, he can feel the paparazzi following him as soon as he leaves but has to pretend he doesn't notice, ducking down into the subway, and losing them in the crowd.

When he comes out at the stop by the coffee shop, he makes his way inside, grabbing a table near the back along with a black coffee with two creams and two sugars.

He unbuttons his coat and takes off his scarf while he waits.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate, as it happens, is luckier than Matt. She's been in the public eye for so long, that she's not *in* the public eye so much anymore.

Or, at least she wasn't until this Matt thing blew up in their faces. She'd thought she'd get to Mercutio's without issue, but no, there were a couple photographers milling outside her apartment building when she stepped out, and despite ducking down alleyways and such, and onto a bus, she'd not managed to ditch all of them - one stalwart young man having ducked onto the bus with her, thrusting a tenner into the fare box and grinning smugly as he followed Kate and sat right across from her.

She ignored all his questions, until right before her stop, when she'd exclaimed, "Why can't you just leave us alone!" the words flying out of her mouth before she could stop them, even as she'd realized she'd just given the young man fodder.

Kate arrives at Mercutio's with the young man in tow. To which she glowers and turns around, making him back off before she enters the coffee shop, even while she knows he, and his fellows are likely just going to take pictures through the window.

"I'm sorry, Italo," she says quietly, ordering coffees for herself and Matt who she's already seen are here. "I didn't think he'd follow me."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt sits quietly as Kate enter, his senses give a pretty good impression of the altercation by the door and even as Kate orders coffees he can hear the papparazzo typing away on his phone, passing on the fodder.

He sighs. He could deal with office gossip and the odd tidbit getting passed around his friends from law school and Landman and Zack, but Kosmos had given him pause. He was as close to family as Elektra had and he couldn't shake the feeling the man had been hurt by how quickly Matt had appeared to move on.

Instead of waiting for Kate to 'find' him, unable to react to her presence by 'sight' alone, he waits until she's ordering coffee before he calls out, "Hey Kate, that you?" as before finishing the last of the coffee he ordered when he arrived.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate unceremoniously puts the coffees she's bought down on the table in front of Matt and herself and sits down. "The vultures out there. They're camped outside my door. I don't imagine it's any better for you, is it?"

She shakes her head. "I grew up with this, but this is beyond anything I expected. I'm sorry, Matt, she gives him a smile that is both sympathetic and fond, reaching over to pat his hand, just in time to notice out of the corner of an eye the flash outside one of the windows to the place. "Great. I can see tommorrow's headline now."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt smirks faintly. "What no kiss?" he asks, joking. He takes the coffee and nods thanks in her direction. "Not that I begrudge the coffee," he adds.

There is a shake of the head after that, "There were a few, they didn't keep up in the subway," he says somewhat proudly. Though he was hardly playing fair, he had a whole host of senses he could keep track of them with that they wouldn't believe in even if he told them.

"It's okay, it's not like I didn't know there would be press," he says, though he didn't know it would be quite this bad. The flash is missed but Kate's reaction isn't. "They got that huh?" he asks as he takes a sip of coffee. "How'd you manage it growing up?"

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate Bishopate laughs, ducking her head. "You want a kiss?" Her head is tilted at Matt, regarding him. "They'll snap photos. But they're going to anyway. We're going to have to sometime if we're doing this. But it doesn't have to be now."

It isn't a no, as much as it's a place for him to join the conversation on this plan of theirs now that it had gone sideways.

"I just didn't expect it to happen this way. I don't even know when they got those photos. It's us at Josie's, laughing together and leaned over the table. Probably plotting this very thing. My mom phoned me. My mom never is the go between me and my dad unless she thinks something is about to blow up, and oh god. You're invited to dinner Friday. I think it's a command performance."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt raises a hand, "I was kidding, or really, wasn't sure what the plan was for PDA's," Matt admits. "That photo caught us mid-planning."

"Oh?" he asks when she brings up her mom, "What'd they think of it all, working like you hoped?"

He doesn't mention the reactions on his end. "And Saturday? Dinner? Where?" he asks, not saying no to the idea. "You're going to have to brief me on what to expect."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Friday," Kate corrects. "And what do they think? I don't know. My mother gave me instructions on how to dress. You're to wear a tie, by the way. So I think she's worried my father is about to read us both the riot act. Which I guess means we have between now and then to figure out what we're doing and how we're doing it, and likely to get over the PDA thing right fast so he doesn't call BS the first time he sees it."

She points out, "And by that, I mean, he likely thinks you're a gold digger out to damage his little girl. So..." Her voice trails off. "Suggestions Councillor?"

Daredevil has posed:
"Right," Matt says. "Friday." He has no clue where he got Saturday from. "And I think I can manage a tie, did he have any preference as to the knot, or do I get to pick that myself?' he asks being a smart ass as he sips his coffee again. "Though what are you supposed to wear?" he asks, curious what sort of outfit Derek Bishop wants to dress his daughter down in. "And did he have any other instructions for me?"

He smirks at the absurdity of it all. For as much as the cameras were a pain in the ass, the amusement was welcome.

"Depending on how much coverage we want today, we can give it a try on the way out, or if we want to field sleeping together questions at dinner, we can get together for an overnight planning session."

He shakes his head before he laughs, "Yeah, that was the gist of that article too," he doesn't seem offended. "Though aren't I richer than you dad now anyhow?" he asks, he wasn't really sure. "Or is it more a part of adding the Bishop fortune to the Natchios one?"

As for suggestions, he thinks about it. "Well, either we get really good at the PDA thing and make him think this is all lust, or I play the respectful boyfriend and try to prove him wrong."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Hey," Kate says dryly of what knot. "Don't joke about things like that. You havne't met my father. He'll smile and laugh with you, but he's also a calculating you know what and already be figuring out where your weak underbelly is so he can slit it."

As to what dress? "My father has this dress he likes. I've dubbed it the dutiful daughter dress. My mother said I should wear that one. That's how I know this is going to be bad. And yes, you're richer than my dad. Me too. Both of us put together, actually. Which might be another thing he's unhappy about. We have to figure out how to make him happy about this, or it isn't going to work."

He's considered with some seriousness. "I'm open to how to play this. But we have to do something before Friday."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt had heard of Derek Bishop before, and of course he did his reasearch after he agreed to this plan as well, but most of what was out there for public consumption made him sound hard nosed, but not dangerous. Though the way Kate talked, suggested there was more to know.

"Kate," he says putting a hand on hers. "You sound really worried here. Just what sort of man is your father? I mean I've seen you less nervous about taking on ninja and Yakuza gunmen."

As for how to make him happy and how best to play this, those issues wait until Matt has more information.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"You haven't met my father," Kate sighs. "I'm never going to be good enough for him. All of this? All the things I do? They aren't good enough. I'm this utter failure as far as he can see. As it is, he's unhappy about me having access to my trust fund. It's like I'm being punished because I got my money, ironically so he couldn't do this to me, and he's going to make sure I know he's unhappy."

She sips her coffee. "He's not a bad man. He's not hit me or anything, so you can relax there. It's just, have you ever disappointed someone you love every day of your life and know that the only way you can get their uncondtitional love is to do what they want? And yes, I know that's not how unconditional is supposed to work. That's the problem. He thinks he's doing this for me. To make things better. But nothing I do will be good enough until it's what he wants. So I can do what makes me me, and always be in this place, hoping he'll see me and love me anyway, or I can do waht he wants and be miserable for the rest of my life."

Her gaze drops. "So, I'm sorry for dragging you into this. That's all kind of why I came up with this crazy plan. I thought if he thought I was making even an attempt at being his dutiful daughter, he'd maybe cut me some slack, and maybe out of it all, see me a little more clearly."

Mostly, other than the reprieve from his constant disappointment, she'd secretly hoped to enjoy the softer, gentler Derek Bishop she remembered from childhood, before she'd become someone he couldn't make do what he wanted. Ironically by pretending to do exactly that.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt's hand tightens over Kate's "I'm sorry you have to go through that," he says with a sympathy. "And I get it. Growing up, I had someone like that in my life, someone I wanted to love me unconditionally and be there for me. Of course, when I told him all this, he walked, just left me right then and there."

He squeezes the hand again. "So I get it Kate, or as well as much as I can without being you. So, not that I wasn't already in, but I'll do what I can to help you get there Kate."

He knew it was probably a lost cause, but what was one more in a life filled with so many? And if it worked, then, he'd made Kate's life better.

"I guess we need to actually figure all this stuff out then, huh?" he says. "No more leaving it to chance."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate nods, and curls her hand and fingers to twine with his. In part because the gesture feels right, and in part because it's all a play, isn't it? They're being watched. There's a story they're to tell, and sell.

"I just wish he'd have loved me the way I was. I was like a puppy. Cute until I wasn't. Only you can't give your kids back after Christmas, or when they outgrow your hopes and dreams. It's okay, he's not a bad man. He really thinks this is all because he loves me. I'm just not that person."

Her fingers release then and she nods. "Yeah. We can't leave this to chance. I know I said maybe not the sleeping over thing so soon, but we need to do something. Even that. Just enough to make him think I'm trying. You know?"

Daredevil has posed:
"Well if you don't mind me telling the new head of Hellas what' we're doing, I think we can probably swing the sleeping over thing tonight, if that'll help," Matt says, he was on Kate's side but at the same time Matt felt wrong hurting someone so close to Elektra.

"We can sort out our plans for Friday, maybe figure out the PDA thing as well, unless you want to give the reporters out there a show."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Oh? You're catching flack? Do you need me to stand up for you, or put in a good word?"

She goes through the list of names she ran into in her search, "Kosmos something or other? Long time family friend? I remember reading the business pages going over him when the switchup happened. What's up there? Is he worried you're going to lose the fortune or something?"

Because it truly hasn't occurred to her that he'd think Matt a gold digger.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt nods, "Yeah, he called, he didn't bring up the picture but you could tell he was thinking about it."

"And yeah, that's him Kosmos Anastas, he was more or less Elektra's uncle. I think he either thinks I never gave a shit about Elektra, and I'm moving on so fast, or he's come to the same conclusion as TMZ and I am after you to get you money the same way I got Elektra's."

"I am not sure a good word is going to fix it, but, I think if I explain why we're doing what we're doing he'll understand, and, he'll keep our secret. He worked for Elektra a long time, there's no way that he didn't know what she was."

The implication was clear, he knew but he did not speak.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
Kate nods. "Well, you can have him contact me if you need it." That last, though, hadn't occurred to him. There really was no way the man didn't know, was there? So many years of loyalty and secrets. It was rather mind boggling.

"And what about us? Any ideas? Or do we just do what other couples do? Go out to dinner, hold hands and kiss. Watch a movie and drag out the goodbye kiss long enough even the papparazzi will be calling for us to just take it to the bedroom already."

Kate chuckles at this last.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt nods, "I'll make sure he has your number," he says. It hadn't occured to him that the man would walk to confirm, but then he was used to a world of Foggys and Karens, not the world where trusting the wrong person meant millions of dollars being lost.

He shakes his head, it was hard to imagine that this was his life now.

"The couple thing works, you can show me what people with money and time do with themselves all day, go to galleries, visit charity events, I can take you slumming around Hell's Kitchen, make it look real, like we're actually trryng to get to know each other's worlds."

"So, yeah, what you said, couple stuff," Matt says finally summing things up succintly, before he chuckles along wiht her. "Not if I am ever going to get comfortable with that many people interested in my sex life, fake or otherwise," he says, then leaning forward to claim a casual kiss from her lips, it felt right, and they had to start somewhere.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Oh, we're otherwise bored," Kate says with a laugh. "That's the thing about being rich, we have the time and money to worry about everyone else's everything. Including each other's sex lives. You'd think being rich as god, some of us would actually turn it to social good, or anything other than gossiping and back stabbing."

Well, some of them had. She had turned away from that shallowness. Some did work in charity works, even if that, too, was often a form of showing off for the world. Just more posturing and creating false stories.

She's smiling to herself as she's thinking that when he kisses her, catching her momentarily off gaurd, and starting, with a small 'oh' of surprise before she blushes - not because of why the photographers who were hoping for *just* such an event to occur had been waiting for (and subsequently snapped for posterity), but because he had caught her off guard. And now that they'd started this, she wasn't sure exactly what one did.

Kate as it happened, had dated a lot of men for all the other false pretenses, and had pined after one Clint Barton to no avail, but she'd really not done the actual date thing enough to get beyond the surprise of it. And while what she was doing with Matt was only another kind of false dating, it was also closer to the real thing than many of her other forays had been.

She wasn't looking for someone to replace Clint, or even to replace Elektra, but she could use a friend. And that was a good enough reason as any for all of this.