Chapter Text
"Every single bank I've gone to has turned me away!" Foggy complained loudly to noone in particular, laying his head down on the table and groaning in his ever-growing frustration. He'd managed to realize on his eighth beer he was getting far too drunk if he wanted to be able to make it home that night, so he'd ordered a glass of water and paid his tab, going home just as upset as when he'd entered the bar, if a little more tipsy. He knew it was probably best to call a taxi, but money was too tight. He'd prefer to walk if it meant tomorrow's dinner.
Maybe his mom was right, he should've been a butcher.
Just as he was reflecting on every mistake he'd ever made in his life, he suddenly found himself faceplanting into asphalt. Slowly getting up, he realized he'd tripped over something. A book. It was old and thick and bound with a tough but sleek leather. The title seemed to be in some strange ancient language, maybe Latin. He picked it up and looked it over. It looked pretty damn fancy. Maybe Foggy could sell it on Ebay. Not for enough to start a law firm, but maybe enough to put a dent in the savings.
So he tucked it under one arm and continued on his way.
Arriving in his apartment, he set the book down on his kitchen counter with a dull thud and a burst of dust. Foggy had planned to go straight to bed, but something compelled him not to, to look through the old dusty book. Like it was calling to him. Flipping through the yellowed pages, he slowly began to realize what exactly this was. A demon summoning manual. Rather than be shocked, he remembered that "oh yeah, people make deals with demons, don't they?" and promptly decided that summoning a demon would be easier than begging another bank to loan him the money. Besides, the soul only weighs like what, 20 grams? Couldn't be all that important, could it?
He laid everything out, a circle of salt just in case the demon got handsy, some candles, and a bundle of herbs he'd snatched from the kitchen. He had no clue what he was supposed to do with them, but if he had the mustard seeds anyway he might as well. Some dimmed lights, poorly recited latin, and suddenly the flames of his candles burned bright and tall and any light from the city outside his windows faded. What. The. Fuck. That wasn't supposed to actually work.
And if that wasn't sobering enough, something emerged from the darkness at the center of the salt circle. It was like it had just unfolded from the shadows, peacefully stepped into existence. A glint of sharp white teeth, dark glasses reflecting the candlelight, and finally the tap of some kind of long stick on the floor to herald its arrival. The candles dimmed and the lights of the outside world returned, and before Foggy stood... a man. He just looked like a normal person at first, until you noticed the way his canines were too long and pointy in his grin, the little red horns poking through his fluffy dark reddish hair, and the thin tail swishing about behind him with a little diamond shape at the end. He was pale and dressed in a nice suit, with red sunglasses and a cane. He tilted his head like he was listening for something before holding out his hand in a polite greeting.
"Hello Mr. Nelson, how can I help you?" He said brightly, breaking the suffocating silence that had fallen over the room.
"Oh, oh shit. Holy shit." Foggy cursed, taking a little step back.
The man- demon- frowned. "Language. Anyway, I presume you'd like to make a deal, Mr. Nelson?"
"Wh, I- I, yeah... How do you know my name?"
"I know things." He supplied simply. "If it helps, you can call me Matthew Murdock."
"...Right. Well, uh, Mr. Murdock... I didn't exactly think this through." Foggy explained awkwardly. "I don't know why I thought this was a good idea, and I-"
"You need money." He interrupted. "Money in exchange for your soul, correct?"
On second thought, maybe souls were kind of important. "Well, I don't know about that actually," He replied nervously. How could he get out of this situation? How did he get IN IT? "I was just drunk and frustrated because I need a loan from a bank to start a law firm and nobody is helping me because of my student debt and I-"
"Did you say law firm?" He interrupted again. "You're a lawyer?"
"Trying to be..." He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just graduated from law school, but so far nothing's really come of it."
Murdock cocked his head a little to the side again, seemingly lost in thought. "I might have a deal you would prefer, actually."
A little, ridiculous, spark of hope lit up in Foggy's chest. "And, that is..?"
"Well, I'm not supposed to do this but I happen to also graduate from law school not long ago, and I've been looking for a human firm that would be willing to employ me despite my... background." He decided with another sinister little grin. The guy didn't seem to have any sinister intentions, that was just how he looked.
"They have law schools in Hell?" Foggy asked, probably way too enthusiastically.
"No, I took an online college. Ahem," He cleared his throat, trying to indicate to switch back to the topic at hand. "The point is, I'd be more than happy to whip up some cash for you, so long as I can work with you."
"...This isn't a trick, is it?"
"I am physically incapable of lying."
"Damn, demon shit huh?"
"I am a devil, Mr. Nelson." He corrected, slightly irritated. "There is a big difference. If I were a demon you'd be a bloody lump of gore right now."
"Ooh. Yeah, no, sorry. Devil shit, gotcha. But is that really it? You just want to be a lawyer?"
"That's it. No strings attached, no loopholes. Just let me be your partner, and I'll take care of the rest."
Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was his state of hysterics, but Foggy's still not quite sure why he agreed. In the moment, it seemed like a fantastic idea. He just didn't realize what exactly that entailed.
Foggy groaned, trying his best to ignore the shrill beeping of his alarm clock. This was going to be one shitty hangover. He opened his eyes to the grey morning light and rolled over to lean over the edge of the bed and turn off the alarm. He was met with the face of a strange man lying on the floor beside his bed, still asleep. Foggy held back a scream as he sat up and scooted away, trying to figure out WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.
The man was lying flat on his back, still dressed in his ironed out suit with his hands at his sides. The only evidence he wasn't a statue his tail curled up next to him, which twitched a little every now and then, like a dog having a good dream. Wait, tail?
Memories came flooding back, of the booze and the book and the devil. Looking at Matthew now, it seemed that he'd just laid down the moment Foggy had decided it was "bedtime". He was still wearing his glasses even, which now in the light cast red shadows over his face as the sun shone through the tinted lenses. He hesitated for a moment, before poking him in the shoulder.
"Hey. Uh, devil-buddy? Time to wake up..." Matthew's face scrunched up in displeasure for a moment before he opened his eyes and sat up.
"Oh. Good morning, Franklin." He yawned, getting up and dusting off his suit, not that it needed it. He did that head tilt thing again, before turning and quickly hitting the "off" button on the alarm clock. "What time is it?"
"Uh, please just call me Foggy and its..." He leaned to the left, looking around him to see the clock. "7 AM."
"Ah, perfect, it should be done then." He mused, sounding rather pleased with himself. "Do humans usually eat breakfast?"
"It... depends, but what's done?"
"Our law firm." He mused, reaching inside his jacket to pull something from an interior pocket and WHAT. He held out a big-ass plaque for Foggy to see, smiling proudly. It read in nice gold lettering, Nelson and Murdock; attorneys at law.
"How did you fit that in there?!"
"Devil shit, as you say."
"So, wait, its..?"
"Its yours, yes. I'm hoping I was correct as for where you wanted the office to be."
Just as Foggy was about to further question him, a loud crack resounded through the apartment. The smell of smoke and sulfur flooded Foggy’s senses, and when the dust cleared a woman he'd never seen before was standing before Matthew, yelling at him in some language that definitely wasn't human. It was guttural and mixed with hisses and growls. As he looked closer, he realized that she was also a devil, though her horns were longer and a bluish grey, and instead of a tail she had webbed wings folded up behind her and long claws. Just like Matt, other than that she just looked like any human, with brown skin and long deep brown hair. She was wearing what looked like nurse scrubs.
"Matt, smiz syry haf zmulculq? Yaf til'z bfwz vrae yjyrhzmulq za qa za zmy pizyruid edily vorv kytapy xe, xe yolhyr!" She snapped, massaging her temples. "Yaf lyyv za qyz kitc mapy ruqmz las. Stick uw qaulq za ky ofruafw!"
He sighed, exasperated, and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Claire, Xe erapuwy zmiz xe itzfiddh zmafqmz zmuw zmrafqm. Xe clas smiz xe'p vaulq."
***
(Infernal translations: "Matt, what were you thinking? You can't just drop everything to go to the material plane to become a, a lawyer!" ... "You need to get back home right now. Stick is going to be furious!"
... "Claire, I promise that I actually thought this through. I know what I'm doing." )
***
"Uhh, guys?" Foggy interrupted, watching the exchange from where he was still curled up defensively on the bed. "Anyone mind telling me what's going on?"
Matthew turned to him with a surprised look on his face, like he forgot that he was there. "Right, sorry... Foggy, this is Claire, my friend. Claire, this is Foggy, we're going to be working together."
"Friend is pushing it." She hissed, turning to look Foggy up and down. "So let me guess, Matt came out of nowhere and forced you to play lawyers with him."
"No, actually, I... I summoned him." He admitted. Matt looked at Claire as if to say See? I told you so.
"Huh. Well, lucky you." She turned back to Matt, fanged scowl returning to her face. "Look, I know your dad always wanted you to be a lawyer and you want to prove Stick wrong, etc. etc., so I'll cover for you for now. But if anybody and I mean ANYBODY finds out what you really are I am coming after you and am dragging your sorry ass straight back to Hell."
"And you," She added firmly, pointing at Foggy. "You are going to keep this idiot out of trouble and if anything happens I will be holding both of you responsible."
Foggy nodded frantically, glancing at Matt who looked just as scared of Claire as he was.
"You remember how to cast glamour spells?" She asked, flicking one of Matt's horns with a claw. He opened his mouth then closed it again, brow furrowed.
"...Not really."
"Of course you don't. Give me your glasses." She sighed, holding out a hand.
He nodded quickly, taking them off and placing them in her waiting palm. Foggy noticed his eyes were a pale yellow, pupils unfocused and the skin subtly marred by chemical burn scars. Whatever she did next must've been some kind of magic, because when she handed them back to him and he put the glasses back on, his horns and tail vanished.
"Whatever you do, don't take these off in public."
He smiled, not the way that made his fangs poke out all creepy, but the way that scrunched up his whole face. He just looked happy. "Thank you, Claire. I owe you one."
"You owe me a lot more than that." She replied, snapping her fingers and creating another portal with that telltale crack sound. The smell of sulfur returned, and as she was about to step through she said one more thing in that strange language. "Trh laz za oidd ul dajy suzm zmuw aly."
Whatever she said must've been something embarrassing because his cheeks immediately flushed pink.
With a smug little laugh she stepped through the portal and vanished.
"So... what was all that about?"
Matt frowned, running a hand through his hair as if to check the horns weren't there, just in case. "I did tell you I'm not supposed to do this."
"I thought you meant that in the way where you have a friend that works at a coffee shop and they give you a discount, not in the way that your friends are going to barge into my bedroom and yell at you!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you trouble." He apologized, looking unfairly guilty. "If you'd prefer, I can take the contract back."
"No, no, it's okay. I'm just a little shocked is all. I'm not going to be getting regular drop in visits from your devil friends, am I?"
"I hope not." He laughed lightly, faint smile returning. "Though to be fair, I think Claire is the only person I can really call my friend."
"Oh. That's depressing." He mumbled, not bothering to mention the part where he also didn't have any friends.
"That's alright, not a whole lot of people in my social circle worth being friends with anyway. Now, how about that breakfast?"
Sitting down in the diner, Foggy was doing everything he could to bite back all the burning questions trying to worm their way out. Who is Stick? What did Claire say to him? Had this happened before? How had he known all these things about him? Should he ask if he's blind, or is that rude? The thoughts roving about in his head were so distracting, he almost missed when the waitress asked if they were ready to order.
"I'll have whatever he's having." Matt replied with that menacing little grin. Even without the fangs he still looked pretty, well, devilish.
"Oh, uh..." Foggy deadpanned, quickly scanning the menu. "Eggs Benedict?"
"Coming right up." The waitress replied, leaving to go off to the next table.
"About the whole... deal thing." Foggy began.
"What about it?"
"Well, I was just wondering how exactly that worked."
"Well, the contract is open ended which means that as far as money and the law firm goes, it's being taken care of indefinitely. In fact, the terms allow me to summon unlimited money so long as the contract goes unbroken." Matt explained, somehow making a $10 bill materialize in his hand to prove that point. "I can't control humans, and can't get us any clients, but I think we can trust that the people who need our services will find us themselves." He added.
"Ahuh..." He mumbled, trying and failing to process everything. "But... I don't mean to be rude but why do you want to be a lawyer? Law doesn't really sound like it's part of the devil skillset."
He paused, thinking. "There are a lot of reasons, but I think one of them is that it was what my dad wanted for me, like Claire said. He was a boxer, he never wanted me to have to fight. Hoped I'd take the high road. I think if he really knew what it meant for me to be a devil it wasn't exactly what he had in mind. I do want to help people, just without the price of damnation to pay." A soft, nostalgic look came over his face. "I never knew my real parents but he was as much of a dad as I ever had. Growing up on earth stunted my growth a little, but I don't regret it."
"Oh... you were adopted?"
"Not legally anyway. Technically there is no Matthew Murdock, on earth or in Hell, but that's the name he gave me so as far as I'm concerned that's who I am." He took a sip of his coffee, thinking. "What about you, Foggy? Any family?"
"Oh, yeah. All of us are Hell's Kitchen locals. I will warn you that they'll probably drop in to see the office at some point, and will ask you a BUNCH of annoying questions. Oh, we should... definitely come up with a cover story. Maybe we can say we met in college."
Matt shrugged, tilting his head to the side again. "Sounds like our eggs are about ready."
As if on cue, just a few moments later the waitress came back with their food.
"How did you do that?" He hissed once she had walked away.
"Do what?"
"The whole, future seeing thing."
"I can't see the future, I can just hear things and smell things. I could tell when our food was ready because I could smell it and hear it, that's all."
"Huh. What other stuff can you tell just from that?"
"Well, I know that your toothpaste brand is Colgate and as far as I can tell your average heart rate is 78 bpm."
"You can hear my heartbeat?"
"It's pretty useful, actually. I can usually tell when people are lying for example."
"Oh." He laughed awkwardly. "I'm glad I haven't lied to you about anything, then."
"As am I." He replied with a smile, turning his attention to the food in front of him. "I think I'm going to like being with you."
And Foggy prayed to dear God that Matt was too invested in his eggs to notice how his heart rate spiked and his face flushed red at that statement. I think I'm going to like being with you. Stupid Matt and his stupid pretty face, putting him into cardiac arrest with one sentence.