Matt got back to Sarah about the notebook she had given him. When he knocked on her window that night, she didn't bother opening it. Instead she just called out that it was unlocked, and he immediately slid it open and pulled himself inside. She watched him from her couch, where she was curled up with a cup of tea, sorting through her (many) overdue bills.

"You really shouldn't leave your window unlocked," he said by way of greeting.

"To be fair, I don't think anyone other than you would try to climb that fire escape," she told him. "I'm pretty sure it's held together with duct tape in some spots."

He ignored her comment. "I managed to figure out some of the writing in the notebook."

"Yeah?" she said, sitting up straighter. "Was there anything important in there?"

"Maybe. Yates was taking notes on Jason. Your new head of security. Looks like maybe he was trying to figure out who had hired him."

"Why would he care? Jason put him on his special task force, didn't he? Seems like he would've been happy with that."

Matt shook his head. "The thing is, I don't think he did put Yates on the task force. When I went to his apartment that night, he knew about the group, but he said he wasn't in it. I don't think he was lying."

Sarah frowned. "So what was he talking to Ronan about in his office for so long, then?"

"I don't know. Looks like maybe Ronan is someone I should pay a visit to soon."

"Good idea," she said a little too enthusiastically, and the corner of Matt's mouth twitched slightly. "Because...I'm sure he'll have information," she amended. And he's a creepy jerk.

"Did you ever find out Jason's address?"

Sarah shook her head. "He never showed up in the system. But HR doesn't always update that stuff very quickly. I don't even know his last name, actually."

"Let me know as soon as you find out. He's the highest link in the organization we have right now."

"Okay," Sarah said. "I, um...I haven't really come across anything helpful in the last few days. Sorry. But Ronan mentioned that he'd be meeting up with the other guys on the task force soon, so...I guess that's still a thing."

"Got any names?"

"Not yet. Sometime in the next couple of days, I think."

"Alright," he said, then hesitated. "Does the name Benny Florence mean anything to you?"

Sarah thought about it for a few seconds. "Benny Florence...yeah. Yeah. He, uh, he used to be like an enforcer for Fisk. He's a psycho. If Fisk wanted to strong arm a cop who wasn't cooperating, he'd send Benny after the cop's wife and kids. Just to send a message. I think he got locked up when Fisk did, though. Why?"

"I could read his name in the notebook, but I couldn't make out the context. Maybe I'll have to check it out. Know of any of his associates?"

"No," Sarah said slowly. "I can try and find out?"

Matt shook his head. "I'll look into it. You just focus on figuring out who's on the group of people trying to track me down. Alright?"

Sarah nodded. "Alright."

"Anything else?"

She chewed her nail, debating whether she should bring up the ticket. She shook her head. He started towards the window and she changed her mind.

"Matt?"

He turned, cocking his head expectantly.

"Um...I went to the courthouse yesterday, after work. They, uh...they told me that you argued my dad's ticket down for us," she said hesitantly. It was technically a statement, but her tone was questioning.

Matt regarded her for a few seconds before answering. "Yeah. It was stuck to the back of one of the papers you gave me. Probably got mixed together in your bag."

No wonder I couldn't find it. "Oh. Um, well, not to sound ungrateful or anything, but..."

"You want to know why I helped you."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah."

He was quiet for a long time, and she might have thought that he wasn't going to respond at all if not for the fact that he also wasn't leaving.

"You...have a lot on your shoulders right now," Matt said finally. "I know some of that is because of me. Plus...I figured with half a paycheck, you probably didn't have a lot of extra money to spend on a lawyer."

"I had no money to spend on a lawyer. Or paying off the ticket. I don't really know what I would've..." she trailed off before shaking her head and continuing quietly. "I just...wanted to say thank you. Taking care of the ticket when you didn't have to, it...it was kind of you."

He observed her silently for a moment, and she wished that she could see more than just the bottom half of his face. With the mask on, it was almost impossible to read his expression.

"You're welcome," he said finally. He slid the window open and climbed back out onto the fire escape, lingering there for a moment longer. "And lock your window."

➳

When Sarah got to work the next day, she saw that Ronan wasn't in his office, which was never a good sign. She approached her desk and was surprised to find a note informing her that her presence was required in Jason's office as soon as possible. Her heart hammered as she reluctantly put her things down and made her way to the elevator. She tried to reassure herself that this could be a routine meeting; nothing to worry about. But even as she told herself that, she didn't truly believe it, and her doubts were reinforced when she entered the office and saw Ronan already sitting there, speaking with Jason in a low voice. They both stopped speaking when she came in the room.

"Ms. Corrigan. If you don't mind closing the door behind you before you take a seat?" Jason said. His usual overly-whitened smile was absent from his face. Sarah reluctantly pushed the door closed and lowered herself into the chair that he had indicated.

"I think maybe you already know why you're here?" Jason said.

Sarah shook her head slowly. "N-no. Sorry."

Jason nodded slowly. "I see. Well, I suppose there's no need for preamble. Let's just jump right in. About once a week, I go through the footage for some of our lower security cameras, just to make sure everything seems in order. And when I checked through the footage for the camera out back...well, I'm sure you know what I saw."

He turned his computer monitor so that it was facing her, and her stomach dropped when she saw what was on the screen. It was her, wearing the outfit she had been wearing last Monday, and she was standing in the back alley with the box of Yates' stuff. The angle of the shot was high; the camera must have been high up on the wall. She watched herself take the papers and notebook out of the box and shove them in her purse before throwing the box in the dumpster and exiting the frame.

"I have to tell you, Ms. Corrigan. This is...concerning. To say the least," he said.

She stared at the video footage on the screen, her mind racing. She hadn't even thought there were cameras in that alleyway. They weren't on the list of installations, and they definitely weren't listed in the system before. She desperately tried to think of an excuse for why she would possibly need to keep those papers. To her surprise, Ronan spoke before she could.

"Worried you'll ruin your reputation in the office?" Ronan drawled.

Sarah cast a confused look his way before she remembered his insinuations from the week before. His hints that she had been sleeping with Yates, and that was why she had been so upset about his death. At the time, she had thought he was just trying to get a rise out of her, but the strange mix of disgust and smugness on his face at the moment told a different story. It looked like he really did believe she had been having an affair with Yates before he died.

She stared at him. Ronan was clearly bringing up the subject because he thought it was something she wouldn't want Jason to know. He had no way of knowing that he was unintentionally providing her with a plausible excuse for her actions earlier. It wasn't one she was crazy about going along with, but it would direct Jason down a path that was far from the truth, at least.

"Care to elaborate, Ronan?" Jason said.

Ronan smirked. "Just wondering if something in that box had to do with a certain secretary's personal life."

Jason switched his piercing gaze from Ronan to Sarah, clearly gauging her reaction. She swallowed nervously, unsure if she would be able to convince him that what Ronan was hinting at was why she had actually taken those papers.

"Right. I—we—um. Brian and I. We were...close. Um...physically," she said awkwardly, hoping that her stuttering came across as nerves and not an indicator that she was lying.

Jason's eyebrows went up. "I'm sorry, are you saying that you and Mr. Yates were...intimate?"

She hesitated, and then nodded. "Yes. I, um...I know it's against company regulations. We weren't...together...for very long. But, um, I had written him some notes of the...personal sort," she said meaningfully, and Jason's eyebrows went up higher. "And I just thought maybe they'd be in those papers. I—I didn't want to throw them out."

Jason stared at her for a long time before his usual chilling smile crept back onto his face. "Well. I'm not Human Resources. How employees spend their time together outside of work is none of my business. But I am curious...Mr. Yates dealt with some fairly confidential information within the company. Unfortunately, if he talked to you about some of those things, that could be a breach of security. It might result in...paperwork."

Sarah's eyes widened slightly. Somehow, she didn't think 'paperwork' really meant paperwork.

"Oh, no," she said quickly, trying to keep her voice casual. "It wasn't—wasn't really that kind of...relationship. There wasn't a whole lot of...talking, you know?"

"I bet," Ronan said under his breath, and Sarah had to stop her lip from curling.

Jason hummed thoughtfully. "You know, I did think it was odd that he kept glancing at you the last time we all had a meeting."

Sarah nodded quickly. "Yeah, I was, uh, thinking of maybe breaking it off. The, you know, the stress of keeping it all a secret at work, it was, um...s-stressful. I think he was just...worried. That day."

Jason tapped his pen on the desk, smiling but clearly unconvinced that she knew as little as she claimed. "Well. Like I said, my job is not to concern myself with how you conduct yourself with other employees. Ronan is your supervisor, so I'll let him decide how to deal with that."

Sarah kept her eyes straight ahead, purposefully not looking at Ronan, but from the corner of her eye she could see his face break out in a sick smile.

"If you're not too busy these next few work days," Jason continued, "I'd love for you to stop by. We can chat about some of our...company standards for security. What's acceptable, what's not. Just a friendly chat, to make sure you and I are on the same page," he said cheerfully. His smile never seemed to reach his eyes.

"R-right. Um...just let me know when," she said nervously. "I'm really sorry if I caused any trouble. I just wasn't thinking straight after Ya—Brian. After what happened to Brian. I didn't think it would be a big deal if I kept a few of his things."

The perpetual wide smile didn't leave Jason's face. "No trouble at all, Ms. Corrigan. You and Ronan can go back to your work now."

Sarah exited the office quickly and made a beeline for the staircase. She was a few feet away when Ronan moved his body in between her and the door, forcing her to a stop.

"You know, I'm surprised at how quickly you gave it up," he said. At her shocked look he quickly added, "Your big secret, that is. I would've thought a girl like you would have a bit more shame about messing around with a coworker."

Her face grew hot, but she didn't know what she could say to defend herself that wouldn't blow her whole story. He grinned gleefully at her silence.

"Cat got your tongue? Guess there's not much you can say about a decision as poor as sleeping with Yates, of all people. But I get it. I know how women work. All hormones and emotions, gets your brain all out of sorts."

Unexpectedly, he lazily reached out and trailed his fingers down her arm, making her hair stand on end. She quickly yanked her arm away and took a step back.

"Don't...touch me," she said icily, meeting his beady eyes as evenly as she could.

Ronan didn't look offended or angry. Disturbingly, his smile widened at her words.

"How many men at this company have you played that game with before, Sarah?"

Her eyes narrowed, and she could hear her heart racing in her ears. "I'm serious, Ronan."

"I'm sure you are," he said mockingly, and with a last leer, he turned and headed towards the elevator.

Sarah stared at his retreating back, a sick feeling in her stomach. Playing along with his misconception about her and Yates had been her only option, and it had gotten her off of Jason's immediate radar—for the time being, at least. Who knew how their ominous meeting next week would go? But the lie had gotten her out of the immediate danger in that office. Now she had to wonder if it had caused more problems than it had solved.

➳

Matt didn't stop by that night, which was unusual, but Sarah wasn't complaining. She still wasn't sure how she was going to explain to him that she had already almost gotten caught. None of it would give Jason reason to suspect any connection to Daredevil, but he was definitely suspicious of her. Yates must have known something before he died, and Jason was clearly trying to figure out if he had told her whatever it was. And that kind of scrutiny was not what she and Matt needed to add to an already stressful arrangement.

Around eleven, Sarah finally decided that Matt wasn't going to show up that night. Relieved, she slipped into her pajamas and got into bed, fairly confident that no knock would come at her window.

Her sleep came in short, restless intervals, interrupted by disturbing flashes of her coworkers and their heartless smiles. About an hour after she finally sank into real sleep, shortly past 2:30 am, the shrill ringing of her cell phone woke her up again.

It took one or two rings to rouse her from her sleep. She slapped her hand around on her nightstand before she found the phone, and squinted her eyes against the overly bright screen in the dark. The tiny devil Emoji grinned at her wickedly from the incoming call screen. She scowled. I really need to change that, she thought as she fumbled for the answer button.

"Hello?" she mumbled sleepily, unable to hide the grumpiness in her tone. Why on earth was Matt calling her this late?

"Is this Sarah?" said an unfamiliar male voice. Whoever it was sounded frantic and out of breath.

Sarah sat up straight as adrenaline quickly cut through her drowsiness. She didn't respond to the mystery person's question. Who could possibly be calling her from Matt's burner phone? No one else knew about her connection to Daredevil, as far as she knew. She debated hanging up.

"Hello?" the voice said desperately when she didn't answer.

"Who is this?" she asked, the suspicion in her voice partially masked by the rasp of sleep.

"This is Foggy—um, Foggy Nelson. I'm friends with Matt. I think—I think you know who I am, right? Just—listen, I don't have anyone else to call. Claire's out of town, and—and I need your help. Matt's really hurt."

Sarah sat in speechless confusion for several long seconds as her sleep deprived brain tried to catch up with his words. "I—what?"

"I know we've never met, and you and Matt aren't exactly best friends. But he is my best friend, and he's hurt. Badly. And I don't exactly have a lot of options for people I can call, here. Please, you have to come help," he implored desperately.

"What—what happened? Where are you?" she asked, clumsily trying to untangle her legs from the sheets while holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder.

"We're off of 45th, near the old textile factory. I don't really know what happened, but his legs are trapped under some kind of...collapsed scaffolding. It's not crushing them, but they're stuck. And it looks like someone slashed him really bad near his shoulder. He's bleeding through this stupid, knock-off Under Armour shirt he has on, and he's out cold. A-and I can't get him out from under this thing and back to his apartment on my own without being seen."

"Wha—so you want me to come help?" she asked incredulously. "Don't you have someone who—who's better equipped to help with something like this? Anyone else?"

"There's only one other person who knows his identity, and she can't come!" Foggy said, clearly frustrated. "Please. I wouldn't be calling you if I didn't have to. I'm scared he's going to bleed out under this thing and I can't exactly call an ambulance."

"I...yeah," she said finally, fumbling for the switch on her bedside lamp. "Okay. Factory on 45th. I'm coming now."

"Thank you! Hurry."

Sarah dropped her phone onto the bed and pressed the palms her hands to her eyes for a second, still not fully comprehending what was happening. After a few seconds, she stood and stumbled over to her dresser. Yanking one of the drawers open, she grabbed a hooded sweatshirt and threw it on over the cotton shorts and tank top she had worn to bed. She fumbled under her bed for the sneakers she knew were under there somewhere.

As she laced up the sneakers, her mind woke up enough to consider the option that this might be some sort of trap. She hesitated, but then uneasily dismissed the thought. Even if someone from Orion knew she was working with Daredevil, she didn't pose a big enough threat for anyone to go to all the trouble of luring her out of her apartment, when they could easily just break in. All the same, she grabbed her stun gun out of her nightstand.

She started towards the front door, then stopped and spun around. Hurrying back to her room, she grabbed her backpack from the floor of her closet, shoving the stun gun and a flashlight inside before darting into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit under her sink. It had only the most basic supplies, but she assumed (hoped) that Matt would have a more comprehensive kit, given his nighttime activities. Zipping up the backpack, she slipped her cell phone into her pocket and grabbed her keys from her nightstand, and then she was out the door.