Chapter Text
When Foggy woke up his… well everything hurt, but his head was complaining loudest. He screwed his eyes up tight and concentrated very hard on not being sick. It felt like he was lying on the sidewalk. But he’d been in the office. Hadn’t he? He couldn’t remember, it was all jumbled images and the more he tried to straighten them out the sicker he felt.
“Nice of you to drop in,” came a familiar and amused voice from somewhere above him.
Foggy risked opening his eyes, luckily in was dark out so he didn’t have to contend with bright lights. He could see Matt in the light of the streetlamp; it made his hair look weird. Foggy struggled into a sitting position. “A little help here, Matty. If you’re done laughing at me that is?”
Matt froze he looked like he was politely angry. Foggy had seen that look lots of times before, usually before Matt said something clever, cutting and completely devastating. But he’d never had that look aimed at him.
“Matty..?” Foggy started, wondering what the hell had happened.
“Only my Father called me ‘Matty’, and you are decidedly not him, Mr Nelson,” said Matt. It was cold, impersonal, but because Foggy knew Matt he could see the barely contained rage behind it.
Foggy made himself stand up even though his head was spinning. “Since when I have been ‘Mr Nelson’?” he asked. “I know I’m not your Dad, Matt, he died.”
“What else would I call the district attorney, Mr Nelson? And I assure you my Father is alive and well in prison. After all you put him there.” Matt smiled a shark smile. The kind they’d seen every day at Landman and Zach. It looked wrong on Matt’s face.
“This crazy, I was in the office… I think. I… was talking to Karen… you walked in and…” said Foggy, closing his eyes against the pain that was only getting worse the more he tried to remember.
Matt laughed nastily. “Karen Page? She’d be more likely to stab you than talk to you. Someone else you put away for a very long time. Being DA has certainly made you a lot of friends, Mr Nelson” Matt stressed his last name and Foggy couldn’t take anymore.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” snapped Foggy. “I’m a defence attorney, not a prosecutor. And my best friend is treating me like he hates me and…”
“You’re telling the truth,” interrupted Matt. “You believe all that.”
Foggy opened his eyes to look at Matt. “Of course I’m… Did you dye your hair?” he asked. He had the joy of seeing Matt’s confused puppy face before he passed out.
**
When Foggy woke up the second time he was in the softest bed he’d ever encountered in his whole life. He lay still and listened for a few minutes trying to work out where he was.
“I know you’re awake,” said Matt. At least it sounded like Matt, amused and warm. But there was an edge to it. It made Foggy nervous.
Foggy let his eyes drift open, it was dark in the room but he could make out the shape of a man sat in the chair next to the bed. “You’re sitting in the dark perving on my heartbeat like a creeper aren’t you?” he winced as the words left his mouth. It wasn’t his Matt he knew that, but he was enough like Matt that Foggy was answering without thinking. He wished he knew even a little bit what was going on.
Not-Matt leant to the side and clicked the lamp on the bedside table on. It cast a warm glow rather than illuminated, and stretched the shadows across not-Matt’s face. He had that smile on his face, the one that was very nearly a smirk, the one Matt used when he knew he’d won but the other guy hadn’t figured it out yet. “The dark doesn’t really bother me. And you seem to know an awful lot about my abilities. Care to explain how?”
“My Matt told me,” said Foggy, sitting up. “I… you’re not him, are you?”
“My… associates seem to think you’ve been pulled across from another universe. They are a little unclear on the how. But I have every faith they will work it out.” He smiled, Matt’s best reassuring smile. Foggy couldn’t help but feel a little better seeing it. It was a deeply ingrained emotional response to a man who was almost his best friend. Not-Matt continued talking. “You are very clearly not this universe’s Franklin Nelson. My people checked he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be right now. Plus now I’ve had a good ‘look’ at you, so to speak, you’re a little younger, and have much better hair.”
“You’re ginger,” said Foggy. “My Matt’s hair has a little red in it, if you catch it in the right light. But not like yours.”
“So they tell me, but to be honest I forget,” said not-Matt with a self-deprecating grin that made Foggy’s heart break with how familiar it was. “Is he really?” he asked.
“What?” replied Foggy.
“Your Matt,” said not-Matt with the kind of smile Foggy used to wish would be aimed at him back when they first met.
Foggy felt himself blush, and he knew his heart was probably doing something strange. “He… he’s my best friend. We’re law partners.”
Not-Matt laughed. “Murdock and Nelson?”
“Nelson and Murdock,” corrected Foggy. “You said it sounded better.”
Not-Matt smiled, open and friendly and inclusive. “Yes, yes it does. Nelson and Murdock, it hits the ear very well. We work together, how bizarre. Although I suppose I see the other you quite a lot during my working life. We’re just on opposite sides. I’m trying to help some poor hopeless person and he’s trying to crush them for a small mistake.” Matt looked sad and angry as he talked. But it didn’t sit quite right on his face; Foggy knew what Matt looked like when injustice was nagging at him. It wasn’t quite like this.
“Is that what happened to your Dad?” he asked carefully trying to push a little deeper.
“He was a boxer,” said not-Matt carefully. “We needed money so he started taking bribes to fix fights. He went down in a match against a man called Creel. It broke him, I think. He got more involved in the mob. Enforcing, things like that. You, this worlds you, sent him down in the end. It was the case that made your career.”
“I’m sorry,” said Foggy not knowing quite what else to say.
“Aren’t you sweet, it really wasn’t your fault, Mr Nelson,” said not-Matt.
“You can call me Foggy. It’s weird, when you call me ‘Mr Nelson’,” said Foggy; it was weird even if this wasn’t exactly Matt.
“Foggy,” said not-Matt as if he was testing the word out. “Thank you, although I’d appreciate it if you could not call me ‘Matty’ it’s something of a sore spot.”
“I think I’ll stick to Murdock,” said Foggy. “If that’s okay?”
“Of course,” said Murdock with a knowing grin. “After all I’m not your Matt.”
Foggy blushed again and really he was betrayed by his own body.
Murdock chuckled pleasantly. “You are very sweet. But I’m afraid I must get back to work.”
Foggy frowned. “But isn’t it the middle of the night?”
Matt smirked. “No it’s just after 2 in the afternoon. You’ve been sleeping a while; it would seem travel between worlds takes it out of you. We have blackout curtains up in here.”
“Why would you need blackout curtains in your bedroom?” asked Foggy, genuinely confused.
Murdock laughed again. “Oh Mr Nel… Foggy, you’re not in my bed.” he winked at Foggy and Foggy was really sick of blushing like some 14 year old. “This is a guest room. There are clothes in the chest of drawers over by the wall. Please, help yourself. There’s a bathroom through the door to your left. If you need anything Nobu is just outside the main door to your right. He’ll get you anything you need.”
“Nobu?” asked Foggy shocked.
“You know him, in your world?” asked Murdock. Pleasantly, but Foggy knew Matt’s fishing for information tone when he heard it.
“I never met him. Matt talked about him once. I didn’t get the impression they were friends,” replied Foggy being careful not to lie.
Murdock smiled again, and Foggy couldn’t help it that smile on that face always made him feel warm and safe. “It’s true Nobu can be a little crabby, and he is not much of a talker, but he’s loyal once you approach him right.”
“Can I leave?” asked Foggy.
“Of course!” said Murdock. “But where would you go? I promise to help you, Foggy. But if you’d rather find somewhere else to stay in the meantime by all means. There’s a cell phone in the bedside table drawer. It has my personal number programmed in. If you need to get in contact with me, I hope you’ll think about taking it?” Murdock was just as good as Matt at the ‘kicked puppy’ look.
“I would like to take a walk, get some fresh air. My heads still pretty woozy,” said Foggy the instinct to reassure Matt was pretty strong. “I’ll take the phone but I promise to come back. Like you said, where else would I go?” He smiled at Murdock.
Murdock returned the smile with one of Matt’s most blinding ones. “I’m really glad we met, Foggy. I want to help you.” He felt the watch on his wrist. “But right now I really must go.”
“Thank you,” said Foggy sincerely. This whole situation was strange but Murdock was trying to help. He could have left Foggy on the street. Murdock nodded and left.
Foggy got up and found some clothes. Trying not to wonder where his clothes were or how he’d got into the t-shirt and sweatpants he was wearing now. First get dressed then see if Murdock really would let him go. Maybe he could get at least a basic lay of the land.
**
When Murdock reached his office he made the phone call.
“I think we have a solution to the Nelson problem,” he said instead of ‘hello’.
“I thought you were pretty anti-killing him?” said the voice on the other end of the line.
“Too messy,” said Murdock, cutting the old argument short. “I think I may have a way to replace him.”
“And then I can kill him?” asked the voice coyly.
Murdock smirked. “Maybe, Karen. If you are a very good girl.”