of the rare books section of a bookstore, her arms full of several heavy books with a list of more titles balance on top. Jason had given her the list that morning, telling her he wanted to add to his collection. His office already held several bookshelves full of obscure and rather boring-sounding books, which he seemed to tout as an indicator of his intelligence, but apparently with Vanessa becoming more and more involved in Orion business, he felt the need to add an another shelf full.

"Um...what about...'Highlights in the History of Concrete,'" she read from the list, then wrinkled her nose. Did Jason pick the most bizarre topics he could think of just so he could spring his random facts on people when the moment seemed right? She did not want to listen to useless concrete facts for the next month.

The sales associate helping her was currently perched on top of a ladder, inspecting the dusty, neglected shelves at the very top of the store's bookcases. Sarah assumed that was where they kept the books no one ever wanted to buy. The salesman had been helping her for around forty-five minutes now, and was understandably growing less patient with her by the moment.

As he searched for the book, Sarah's phone rang. She shifted the stack in her arms, struggling to slip her phone out of her pocket and catch a glimpse of the screen; it was Jason calling.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Sarah. I need you to come back to the office, there's a few things I need to discuss with you."

"Well, I'm right in the middle of buying your books—"

"Forget the books, just come back to the office."

"Oh. O—okay," she said uncertainly, but Jason had already hung up.

She winced apologetically at the sales clerk, who had now come down from the ladder and appeared to already know what was coming based off his unamused expression.

"Sorry. I'm really sorry." She awkwardly shifted the stack of books back towards him. Once the books were in his arms she balanced a few of the smaller ones on top until she could only see his disapproving eyes over the tower of nineteenth century dictionaries and how-to books.

"Thank you anyway!" she called to him apologetically before hurrying out of the store, which she hoped she'd never have to return to again. She wouldn't be surprised if they posted her photo behind the counter.

Back at the office, she knocked on Jason's door and he immediately called out for her to enter. When she did, she was surprised to see Vanessa there as well, sitting in a chair in front of Jason's desk.

Jason indicated for her to take the other seat.

"You remember Vanessa, right?"

"I do," Sarah said. Her heart flipped nervously; although Vanessa had greeted her as warmly as any other time, she seemed much more intimidating now that Sarah knew she was Fisk's wife. As thought anything she said in front of her went straight back to the man himself. "Nice to see you again."

"Well, I suppose we'll get right down to business," Jason said. "Vanessa has decided that she'd like to split her time between supervising here at the office and working from home, in order to spend more time with her family." Sarah was alarmed for a second before she remembered he meant the younger Fisk, not the elder. "And she was hoping you could be of some assistance with that."

Sarah looked from Jason to Vanessa in confusion. Did they need her to find someone to help Vanessa with the baby?

"Um...sure. If you need a nanny, I'm sure I can find you a good one—"

"No, no," Vanessa tutted. "Not a nanny. I am more than capable of raising my own child; nannies are so impersonal. But I have a lovely home that I enjoy spending time in, and I would like to have someone who can serve as an intermediary between myself and the Orion employees. Setting meeting times, delivering important paperwork, that sort of thing."

"And...you want me to do it?" Sarah asked uncertainly.

"Why not?" Vanessa asked. "You've proven to be a very valuable employee to Jason, and I'd love to get to know the people helping to keep the company running."

Sarah assumed it was best not to mention that she was, in fact, trying to stop the company from running.

"That's...very nice of you. Um..."

"But, of course, if you don't want the additional responsibility I would understand. You're young and I'm sure you have a social life; you don't want to spend all your time at work."

Vanessa had an inscrutable way of speaking that made it impossible for Sarah to tell if she genuinely meant that—meaning she must not truly understand the details of Sarah's conditions of employment—or if she was playing some strange game.

"Right. I...go out sometimes."

"Well, I don't need anyone immediately. Why don't you take until Monday, talk it over with Jason and see what would work out best for all of us?"

"Great plan," Jason jumped in. He stood as soon as Vanessa did, offering his hand to shake. She took it and smiled at him warmly.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Jason," she told him with an almost indulgent smile. "You too, Sarah."

Sarah nodded as Vanessa left the room. Then she turned her attention back to Jason, who had settled back into his large office chair and was running his fingers over his white tie in agitation. The small demonstration of frustration seemed at odds with the wide, perpetual smile he still had on his face.

"Well, I think that went well, don't you?"

"I—yeah. Definitely," Sarah said. Personally, it hadn't seemed like much had happened at all.

"It's great she wants to be more hands on with the company. And from home! I mean, I went to all that work putting in extra security measures on the fourth floor to set up her office. And I built an adjacent office for myself for when I get promoted to head of the company. But it's fine."

Sarah stared at him with wide eyes. It was very clearly not fine, and she wasn't sure what to say.

"Obviously the decision to take the job is up to you," Jason said. "But...if you were to turn it down, it would...reflect poorly on me. To have employed someone who doesn't have any desire for upward mobility in the workplace."

"Right," she said uncertainly.

"And of course, I can't understate how useful it would be to have someone I already know handling Vanessa's business. Just to ensure that we both fully understand each other's intentions for the company and how to implement certain...projects and personnel adjustments."

Jason was speaking in office jargon in an attempt to sound professional, but his real meaning was obvious: he didn't trust Vanessa, and he wanted Sarah to watch for signs that he was on his way out the door. Just one more layer of espionage added to the mix.

"Um...I'll definitely think about it and have an answer for you by Monday," she said.

Her answer didn't appear to satisfy Jason, who was clearly hoping for an immediate 'yes'. His wide grin faltered just a fraction.

"Very well," he said. He appeared to mentally move on from the subject as his gaze flicked down to her empty arms. "Where are my books?"

Sarah opened her mouth to remind him that he had specifically ordered her to abandon the task, but she decided against it.

"I'll...go get them right now," she said, holding back an exasperated sigh.

She turned and left the office, hoping there was a different sales associate working by the time she got back to the bookstore.

That night, Sarah stretched out on her couch, staring up at the ceiling and wishing she had a glass—no, scratch that, a bottle—of wine to help her as she tried to decide what to do about Vanessa's offer.

She didn't particularly want to take the job. The idea of working with Fisk's wife, being around his child, maybe even being in his home—where did Vanessa live, anyway?—was less than appealing. And every time she got pulled deeper into Orion, people got hurt. Usually her, sometimes others. But she also couldn't pass up an opportunity to potentially get away from Orion quicker. Working there was turning her into someone she didn't recognize. If someone had told her two years ago that she would kill someone—even by accident—she would have laughed at them. Especially if they'd told her she wouldn't even feel guilty about it.

Because she didn't feel guilty. She kept expecting to, but it never came. Sure, there were nightmares of going to prison, and a fairly constant feeling of teetering on the edge of a panic attack. But at night, when she couldn't sleep, she laid there and waited for the guilt to descend on her; instead she only felt relief that Ronan was gone. It bothered her that an emotion she knew should be there just wasn't, and it had to be because of the life she was living, the work she had to do.

Luckily, she was pulled from these thoughts by her phone ringing. Unluckily, the person calling was Lauren's mother. Sarah groaned when she saw the name Brenda Gladstone flash up on her screen.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Sarah, hello. It's Brenda."

"Hi, Mrs. Gladstone," Sarah said. She had never really gotten to the point of calling Lauren's mother by her first name, despite meeting her as an adult.

"I'm calling because I've set up a date and time for the official baby photos to be taken, and Lauren insists that the godmother be in them."

"Oh. Right. That's me." Sarah had forgotten that hiring a photographer for professional baby photos was the kind of thing Lauren's family did. "When are they?"

There was a quiet knock at her window, distracting her from the conversation. Looking over at the glass, she could see a familiar black silhouette on the other side. Mrs. Gladstone was still talking as she made her way over to the window, but she missed what she said.

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" Sarah cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she pushed the window up to allow Matt inside. She thought he seemed to be moving slower than usual as he pulled himself through, though his landing was just as silent as always.

"I said, the appointment is scheduled for this Saturday at three o'clock in the afternoon. Will you be able to make it, or should I reschedule?"

"Saturday sounds fine," Sarah said, hoping that was the end of the conversation. "Was that all you needed?"

"No, actually," Mrs. Gladstone said. Of course not, Sarah thought with a roll of her eyes.

Matt had already discarded his mask on the table, and his sweaty hair stood up in odd directions as he leaned against the windowsill and waited for her conversation to be done. He tentatively rolled his right shoulder, and a wince of pain ghosted across his face as he did. Sarah frowned as she tried to see if he was injured—or rather, how badly he was injured.

"Are you hurt?" she whispered, covering the mouthpiece of her phone. Matt made a face and shook his head dismissively, despite clearly keeping his shoulder at an awkward and painful-looking angle. Her frown deepened as she looked at him skeptically.

Mrs. Gladstone—whose hearing appeared to rival Matt's—somehow picked up on her hushed words.

"Do you have company?" she asked. "Am I interrupting something?"

"What? Oh, no, sorry. I—have a mouse. I was talking to it," she said distractedly as she stood on her tiptoes to get a better look at Matt's shoulder. She shifted her phone to the other ear and cautiously tilted his chin to allow the light from her kitchen to better illuminate the area. Immediately she could see that the base of his neck was red and swollen right where it met his shoulder. She winced; it looked painful.

"You have a mouse in your home?" Lauren's mother repeated.

"My apartment tends to attract pests," she said, glancing sideways at Matt. He smirked at the jab, but didn't make any comment. Which was just as well—she didn't need Mrs. Gladstone asking her about who she chose to let into her apartment.

"Well I hope you plan on getting rid of your rodent infestation before Lauren brings my grandchild around," Mrs. Gladstone said, sounding deeply unamused.

"What else was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Sarah asked in hopes of changing the subject. She stepped back from Matt and went into the kitchen, where she rooted around in her freezer for her now oft-used ice pack.

"Oh, yes. Cecilia was just showing me the photos from the baby shower."

"Sure," Sarah said vaguely, having no recollection of anyone taking photos. She winced at the thought of what she must look like in them.

"I'm trying to figure out what the theme was?" Mrs. Gladstone asked her.

"Um...the theme?" she repeated dumbly.

"Yes, the theme of the party. What was it? I can't tell from the photos."

"It was, uh...baby themed," she said, completely lost as she finally extracted the ice pack from the freezer. "The—the theme was baby."

There was a long silence on the other end, the palpable disapproval practically reaching through the phone line. "I see."

Returning to the living room, she scowled when she saw that Matt looked greatly amused by her flustered attempts to answer the rapid fire questions. She stood on her tip toes in front of him once more and gingerly pressed the ice pack to the base of his neck. He briefly closed his eyes at the contact, tilting his head to the side to allow her better access; she took that an indicator that the ice was helping. After a moment, he opened his eyes again and brought his hand up to hold the icepack himself, his hand brushing over hers as it replaced her grip on the pack. She brought herself down off her tiptoes and stepped back again.

'Thank you,' he mouthed at her, and she gave him a small smile before remembering she still had Mrs. Gladstone on the other end of the line.

"So, if that's all you need to discuss..." she began hopefully.

"It was. Remember, the photographer is going to be there at three o'clock sharp on Saturday."

"Okay."

"You'll need to be on time."

"I will be."

"And dress nicely. Put in some effort."

"Got it."

"No jeans. Or shorts."

"Mhm."

"And nothing you'd wear to a yoga class."

"Okaysoundsgreatseeyousoonbye," Sarah said hurriedly, quickly hanging up before Lauren's mother could say anything else. She tossed the phone onto the couch, then put her hands over her face and let out a long, frustrated groan. Dropping her hands again, she looked at Matt, who was still leaning against the windowsill with the icepack to his skin.

"Hi," she greeted him.

"Hi." Matt still looked annoyingly amused by the conversation he'd just overheard.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

"Just pulled a muscle, I think," he said, brushing the concern aside. "It's not bad."

"Your definition of not bad is different from most peoples," she reminded him, and he didn't deny it. He did, however, change the subject without much subtlety.

"That was Lauren's mother?"

"Calling to make sure I don't show up in cutoffs for their baby photos. I don't think she's very happy Lauren wants me to be in them."

"Have you...told Lauren about everything that's been going on?"

"Sort of. She knows that Ronan is dead, but not that I..." Sarah faltered, still not quite ready to say it out loud. She shook her head before pushing onward. "I just don't feel like dealing with that look she'll give me all the time if she knows. Like she thinks I'm going to have a nervous breakdown any second."

She felt foolish saying that last part to Matt, who had witnessed quite a few breakdowns on her part since they met. Thankfully, he didn't comment on that, just nodded as his brow creased.

"I'm spending the night at my dad's tomorrow night, by the way," she said. Mitch hadn't been doing well lately, and she had been trying to fit in as much time at his place as she could. "I figured I'd give you a heads up so you didn't think I got kidnapped or anything."

"Always a possibility with you."

"So...it's good you came by tonight, because I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

She fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt, trying to figure out how to broach the subject of her potential promotion. She was positive Matt wouldn't want her to take it, and it would surely lead to an argument when she told him she was considering it. But she also wanted to hear his thoughts on the possibility, despite knowing they probably wouldn't line up with her own.

As usual, Matt quickly picked up on the nervous energy about her. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," she said. He just raised his eyebrows at her, and she relented. "Jason called me into his office today. To talk to him and Vanessa."

"Vanessa?" Matt's voice already had a slightly sharper edge to it just from the name, and Sarah was willing to bet it would remain for the rest of their conversation. "What did she want?"

"She...wants me to work for her. Kind of."

There was a long pause.

"What?" he said, straightening up so he was no longer leaning against the window.

There it is.

"They want me to be a sort of...go-between?" she explained hesitantly. "For the two of them. Coordinating their schedules, setting up meetings, bringing her paperwork on the days when she prefers to work from home. It was kind of vague, to be honest."

"And he's making you do it? You already have a job, working for him."

"I'd still be working for him. I'd just also be working for her. I think they could have gotten someone else, but...I don't know. I guess she likes me," Sarah said gloomily. She was less than thrilled with the idea that Vanessa wanted to spend more time with her. "So Jason asked if I would do it."

Her wording caught his attention. "He asked you? As in, gave you the option to say no?"

"Technically."

"Don't do it," Matt said immediately.

"Matt—"

"I mean it. Don't take the position, it's too dangerous."

"But...maybe it's worth it."

"Worth placing yourself in the middle of Wilson Fisk's personal life?" Matt asked in disbelief. "This is more than being a secretary or—or whatever your job title is right now. This is putting you smack in the middle of Fisk's radar."

"Well, maybe I need to be more than a secretary to get anything done," she insisted. "What have we accomplished so far, Matt? I mean, yes, Ronan is gone and Jason doesn't have his ties to the police department anymore. But Orion is still going strong. Maybe...maybe this is what needs to happen."

"Going after Fisk's wife."

"No. I'm not going after her, I just...I think maybe there's something there we could use. Jason doesn't trust her, and I don't think she trusts him. After she left, he...kind of implied that he wanted me to keep an eye on her. I mean, he didn't say it outright, because he's weird. But I think he wants to make sure she's not trying to get rid of him."

Matt closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You'd be...spying on Wilson Fisk's family for Jason."

Sarah shrugged weakly. "Probably just his wife. I don't think the baby will be doing much."

"This isn't funny."

"I know."

"Do you?" Matt shot back. "You're not just going against Fisk's company now, Sarah. This is family. It's personal. If he even suspects that you're not telling the truth about who you are or what you're doing..."

"No one has any proof that I'm working with you."