i_crusade A drink. [Tag: Murdock]
5:30 PM. The workday was over, and Bruce Wayne was sitting at the bar just down the street from the great tower that housed his corporate offices. The trial - and outcome - of Jack Napier's trial was still enraging him him. It was not hard to admit that the darkest part of him wanted The Joker dead, utterly and completely dead, so that Barbara Gordon never needed to think of him again. So that no one ever had to worry about him again. The darkest part of him whispered that he should see to it himself. Once and for all.
But justice was not his to mete out. He had never wanted it to be, truly, though sometimes he believed it would be much more expedient if it was. There had always been a great deal of separation between that darkest part and what he would allow himself to do. He did not slip. He did not lose control. He never would. Even the thought of it was soon quashed under logic and strict control. But sometimes...
Sometimes.
He did think about it. It was a secret that Bruce Wayne would never tell.
Someone had come into the bar behind him. As Bruce lifted his scotch glass to drink, he casually glanced into the mirror behind the bar. The newcomer was Matt Murdock. The fingers that held the glass closed a fraction tighter, before Bruce plastered on a careless, slightly-tipsy smile. Affecting a voice that was just a few decibles louder than it should have been, he swiveled on his stool.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Matt Murdock! I saw you at the trial. Why don't you join me for a drink?"
From: i_object Date: 06/30/2006 19:35:07
A stiff drink was what everyone needed following that trial. Matt made his way into the bar, cigarette smoke and cigars wafting through his radar sense. Now he remembered why he didn't come to these places alone.
Weaving through people, he made his way to the bar. Finding an empty seat wasn't too difficult - he felt the air circulating around the chairs.
But he hadn't even had a chance to order a drink when someone practically shouted in his face.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Matt Murdock! I saw you at the trial. Why don't you join me for a drink?"
Matt cringed for a second, but then smiled congenially.
"Thank you," he said, a bit bewildered at being recognized. This man, however, wasn't drunk. Matt could smell alcohol on his breath, but there wasn't the drowsy body functions that normally went along with that.
"Who might you be?" Matt asked, extending his hand and cocking his head slightly.
From: i_crusade Date: 06/30/2006 19:47:54
Bruce took the offered hand and shook it vigorously. "Bruce Wayne," he said, in the perfect intonation of a powerful man who knew his worth. "Pleased to meet you. What're you having? Bartend! The man's parched - bring it on!"
The bartender knew that when Bruce came in, he paid for anyone he happened to talk with, and tipped like a man who had billions, too. It was wise to do whatever he asked. Therefore, Bruce didn't feel the need to tell either the bartender or Murdock that he was paying. It just was. And it didn't matter much to him.
This should be an interesting conversation. To say the least.
From: i_object Date: 06/30/2006 19:58:54
"Scotch on the rocks," Matt replied to the bartender.
To his new drinking companion, Matt leaned towards him so he didn't have to shout as much over the bustle of the crowded bar. It also helped him to focus. "Nice to finally make your acquaintence, Mr. Wayne. I've heard a lot about you."
He gave his tie a tug. Another long day at the office was over and he was still fielding questions from the press over the Napier case. He was still embarassed by the events of the trial and he still didn't know how much of the media exposure he could take. The fame that he gained on the street with people stopping him constantly made it harder to get to the office as well. He had handled this sort of fame before, but with the added pressures of being in the City, it seemed to wear on him a bit more.
From: i_crusade Date: 06/30/2006 20:07:16
Bruce assessed the lawyer swiftly. There was something to that grimace as he greeted him, and it wasn't just the annoyance of someone stopped by someone else with a drink in his hand. The man was worn. The trial, for a certainty, had been a drain on him. There was yet more, however. More that Bruce could not see.
"Scotch, ah, good call, good call," Bruce said with hearty approval. "Scotch is a truthful drink. You know what you're drinking - it makes no pretty excuse, no cloying mask of what it is. It just... Is. Good call, I say."
Masks. Was it Bruce's adept skill at masks that made him hate them so much? Or was it the other way around? Was it because he loathed them that he was so well versed on the usage and appearance and maintenance of them? For his part, his mask of the carefree billionaire didn't slip at all, despite the fact that the man beside him was blind. There were also the rest of those around him. And the tone in his voice showed what his expression could be. No, blindness was no reprieve from the charade he played every day.
Bruce could understand, suddenly, the tinge of exhaustion in Murdock's voice.
From: i_object Date: 06/30/2006 21:01:33
Matt nodded in agreement. The bartender returned quickly with the scotch and placed in front of him on a coaster. Following the heavy clunk of the highball glass on the mahogany counter, Matt picked the scotch up without a hesitation. He didn't drink often, but when he did, it was welcomed.
Taking a sip and returning the drink squarely on the coaster, Matt turned back to Bruce. "What brings you down this way, Mr. Wayne?" Matt wasn't exactly the best at making small talk with billionaires. He was a working man's lawyer, so he didn't mingle with the uppercrust very often.
From: i_crusade Date: 06/30/2006 21:17:11
Hm. So no witty comment about truths. Straight to business. Unfortunate.
"My feet, mostly," he said with a good-natured laugh, and a just-barely-there slur on the 's' sound. "What about you? Winding down from the big hurrah at the courthouse? How'd you feel about that anyway?"
Sometimes the most direct method was..... the direct method.
From: i_object Date: 07/01/2006 11:46:39
Matt was all about being direct. He'd done enough lawyering and talking around issues in the past week to be good for the next year. But it wasn't in his nature to take a break from being a lawyer, no matter how exhausting it was. Crime never took a vacation, so neither should justice. He'd keep going, even when he felt like he wanted to throw everything up in the air.
"What about you? Winding down from the big hurrah at the courthouse? How'd you feel about that anyway?"
Matt considered for a moment, rolling his glass in his hand so the ice clinked against the sides.
"I'm relieved that it's over," he said simply. Those sort of cases, however, were never "over". Matt still had more work to do on it. But at least the court hearings were over. They were the most time consuming. He wouldn't go into details with Mr. Wayne - he didn't know the guy. Despite the fact that the man was pretending to be drunk, Matt didn't know how much he could say in confidence.
From: i_crusade Date: 07/02/2006 07:33:52
"Yeah, I can understand that," Bruce went on, setting his drink down. "Must've been frustrating. Were you happy with the outcome at least?"
And now, the great moment of truth. If what Napier had yelled in the courtroom was anything like what Murdock thought, it was probable that he wasn't.
Bruce fervently hoped that he wasn't.
From: i_object Date: 07/02/2006 09:12:24
"No." Matt took another swig of the scotch.
Stupid justice system. Or what little there was of it in this city. Matt knew the jury did what they thought was best, but he really wished he could have at least - ethically - gotten a harsher sentence for his client. Something more akin to life in Alcatraz with no appeals would have been what he'd have gone for.
"I couldn't say there was much of a moral vacuum that could have been made for that case. I did all I could to make sure the proceedings were fair, but there was no way I was going to try and get that joker off." He swished his glass around again. The alcohol wasn't exactly doing it's job - he hadn't had enough of it yet and he was a pretty big guy for it to even make his radar sense go fuzzy.
"You know what I mean though?" he continued. "There's no way you can morally let someone like him get off or even allow him to get an easier sentence. There are other ways justice needs to be taken care of if it's not finished once and for all in court."
That was Matt's rant for now. He could go on for hours, but this was what had boiled up inside of him. It was starting to spill over the top. He needed to get home soon and throw some things before his temper really got the better of him.
From: i_crusade Date: 07/02/2006 10:17:51
There.
Bruce struck hearts-blood, and he knew it. He could not avoid hearing the rise of anger - oblique, but potent - in his drinking companion's voice. And the anger was directed correctly. Murdock understood the power of law, and the power of justice, and understood that sometimes the one was not the same as the other.... but everything had its boundaries.
This was something like the same feeling he got from his friend Harvey. Only with Harvey, those boundaries were not so well defined. It put fear in Bruce's heart, fear for his friend, whom he didn't want to see walk down the same path he'd done in Gotham.
"I know," Bruce said, completely sober. And then, lifting his glass again and drinking deeply to finish it, he clapped Murdock on the shoulder. "Too bad he didn't get prison. I'm sure someone would have finished him off in there."
Another careful bait. And would this fish bite?
From: i_object Date: 07/02/2006 10:39:43
Matt tensed slightly when Bruce suddenly clapped him on the shoulder. He'd felt the air rush as the other man had brought his hand up, but Matt was still tight like a spring waiting to pop. There was still something about giving a blind man a slap on the back when he wasn't expecting it, even one with super senses.
Someone might finish him off if he's not in prison. Matt was thinking it, but wasn't going to say it. Daredevil would find Napier should he get out again. The Man Without Fear wouldn't back away from some nutcase.
"Who knows," Matt said, shaking his head. He picked up his drink again and drank a little more scotch. He swished the cubes around in the glass, letting them hit the crystal.
From: i_crusade Date: 07/02/2006 19:58:07
On his guard again. Excellent. Defensive? It was soon to be seen.
"Now, I guess we'll never know," Bruce said conversationally, gesturing toward Murdock's glass, and then his own, with a downward swirl of his index finger. The bartender was swift to replace their drinks with fresh ones. "So what will you do, now that your star case is safely in the hands of Arkham? Have any other notorious madmen to defend?"
From: i_object Date: 07/02/2006 20:13:57
Matt heard the clink of a fresh glass placed in front of him. The smell of scotch drifted up. Draining the glass in his hand, he set that one down on the countertop. He didn't reach for the fresh one just yet.
"Now?" Matt gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Mostly it's just pro bono cases. A few parking offenses, lawn ordinance violations - nothing exciting. I'd take on higher profile cases, preferably in a manner unlike the one I just finished, but my partner seems to be missing in action."
From: i_crusade Date: 07/02/2006 20:39:19
Not defensive. The annoyed tug at the corner of his lips was quickly masked by the glass he put there instead. Drinking deeply, he set his glass down a touch too loudly, then looked back at Murdock. He hadn't gotten defensive at all. Boring, perhaps, but a sign of guiltless living. Hm. And pro bono cases. He was either already wealthy, or he wasn't a lawyer for the money. Perhaps both.
"Yeah?" Bruce asked, easily continuing the thread of conversation, as his mind spun through the possibilities. "Who's that? Nothing's amiss, I hope."
More and more, Bruce Wayne was beginning to like this Murdock fellow, despite his initial reservations. It had gone a long way that the man had not outwardly shown impatience or annoyance with his patience-trying, obnoxious behavior. Good marks for Murdock.
From: i_object Date: 07/02/2006 21:02:49
Matt was never really out to impress anybody. Guiltless - well, that depended on which line of work you explored. Foggy always badgered Matt about taking cases for clients who, in Matt's opinion, would rarely have their voices heard in court. Matt felt everyone had an opportunity to be heard and, should justice be served, everyone would be dealt with fairly. This wasn't always the case and their law firm struggled for years until bigger cases started rolling in.
"My partner? Franklin Nelson." Matt shook his head, picking up the full glass of scotch. "I hope not either. My secretary says she hasn't seen him in weeks. I haven't run into him since I've been here." He wasn't about to go into how difficult going into this latest trial had been. Especially when certain parts of the case were brought up. Such as hair color for example. Matt had never even assumed that would become an issue.
Matt had learned to keep his annoyance with people covered up ever since law school. It was only in private or particularly trying situations that he showed his annoyance. Or else while wearing red leather.
Bruce was mild compared to some people he dealt with. Being blind also allowed Matt to read people in other ways that first impressions sometimes glossed over. Bruce obviously had an care-free air about him, but he was also putting something on, and it wasn't just the tipsy act. Matt noticed Bruce's careful directing of the conversation. A skill, he assumed, which came from attending cocktail parties.
Matt didn't mind. Just as long as he didn't imbibe of too much scotch. Two glasses wouldn't do it, but who knows how many more would. He still needed to find his way home, after all.
From: i_crusade Date: 07/03/2006 03:38:36
Bruce took note of the name. He'd run a search when he got home, see if the man made it to the City with Murdock. If Murdock had been here for more than the weeks that the secretary mentioned, then there may well be foul things afoot.
"Not a good sign," he mumbled. "Not having seen him since you got here. How long has it been?"
From: i_object Date: 07/03/2006 06:52:37
Should he mention that his secretary was back from the dead? Matt decided against that. That sounded crazy, even to him.
"I haven't seen Foggy for a good four months. That's been since I got here. My secretary has apparently been here longer and hadn't seen either one of us until I walked through the office door back in April. Though, it took me a while to get to my office before it finally found a spot and stayed there."
Matt paused to take a drink.
From: i_crusade Date: 07/03/2006 10:33:18
"Ah, The City," Bruce said, feigning fondness. "A place for second chances, if ever there was one. Perhaps it is that your partner hasn't arrived yet. Perhaps this is your second chance, and this time you have to do it on your own."
He eyed his glass critically.
"I hope you have friends here. Sometimes the City ends up pretty lonely."
And that sentence had more truth in it than he had wanted. He cleared his throat and then set fire to it again, in the form of liquid gold.
From: i_object Date: 07/03/2006 11:45:19
Matt raised an eyebrow over his sunglasses. He didn't necessarily see not having Foggy as being a second chance. He had Karen, but she couldn't assist him in court the way Foggy could. Besides Foggy did most of the gruntwork for Nelson and Murdock. There were some things that Matt couldn't do - looking up old records, for example, or doing research on the computer - and couldn't ask Karen to do for him, due to confidentiality and such. He probably wouldn't have been as far as he was today without Foggy.
Plus, Foggy was his best friend.
"I hope you have friends here. Sometimes the City ends up pretty lonely."
Matt rested both elbows on the countertop, his fingers resting lightly against the glass of scotch. "I know exactly what you mean."
From: i_crusade Date: 07/03/2006 13:38:56
That was enough. He had meant to learn more about this Murdock, not give Murdock more information about himself than anyone needed to know. His loneliness had worn on him lately, but he had not realized how much. He slipped.
He slipped.
Swiftly finishing off the remainder of the scotch, Bruce set the glass down on its paper coaster, and stepped down from the barstool.
"Buck up, buddy," Bruce said, the warm smile in his voice matching the smile on his face, but touching nothing of the part of him that had gone cold inside. "You find friends here in places that you'd hardly expect. I'll see if anyone over around me has heard of your partner, and if they have, I'll send word for you. You have a number I could call you at or something?"
From: i_object Date: 07/03/2006 13:56:46
Matt heard a brief moment of panic in the man's heartbeat - extremely brief - before the heartbeat was back to what it had been before. This didn't mean much to Matt - he didn't know Bruce Wayne or anything about him to be able to judge - but whatever had set him off was leading to a quick exit.
Reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, Matt pulled out his business card for Nelson and Murdock. The card had the address and phone number for the law office printed on it.
"My card," Matt said, holding the card out for Mr. Wayne.
Holding up the scotch in his other hand, once Bruce had taken the card, Matt gave a short nod. "Thank you for the drinks."
From: i_crusade Date: 07/03/2006 14:52:51
M'pleasure, Mr. Murdock. Take care."
And with that, and a casually settled $100 bill for the bartender, Bruce made his escape.