I've had a reflection the other day and from that reflection came to be this fanfic, where Claire meets with father Lantom.

To be fair, I'm thinking about making it a series of oneshots in which various people Matt knows, are meeting with our favorite priest. However, I wouldn't do the one with Foggy, because I kinda did it with Sacrament of penance and reconcilation.

Reviews, please?

Healers of body and soul

Generally when the burner phone was ringing, Claire expected to hear either Matt, or Foggy. Matt was kind enough to tell her explicitly what was medically wrong with him, which gave her some idea of what she should take with herself. It was a bit harder when the one, who was calling to her, was Daredevil's friend. Claire had nothing against Foggy – ever since they've met, she was finding him very endearing, even though, he was also pissed at Matt for a long time after the revelation… But him calling to her from the burner phone, meant that their favorite vigilante was unconscious and, probably, needed first aid she had to instruct Foggy about.

Nevertheless, this time she heard neither Matt, nor Foggy.

"Hello? Am I talking with nurse Temple?"

It was a male voice. It sounded old. Not raspy old, just old. It also sounded worried, so although Claire didn't recognize the guy, she dismissed the idea that it was some criminal.

"Who's talking?" First things first. "Where did you get that phone?"

"My name is Lantom. I'm… eh… We have a common friend. And this friend, you see, nurse Temple, just collapsed on my floor. He told me to call you, before he passed out."

"I see."

She didn't know who Lantom was – maybe it was someone who Daredevil encountered many times, or some friend of Matt Murdock, who also knew his secret… or just some random guy, who was told by Matt to call to her, but she doubted it was the third option. Either way, she decided that for a time being she will trust Lantom, whoever he was.

"What can you tell me about his injuries at the moment?"

"Well…" There was a pause and Claire suspected that Lantom was gathering the data. After some time he told her: "He doesn't seem to have anything broken. But he does bleed from his chest and he was limping before he fainted."

"Okay, Lantom," She replied. "how is his pulse?"

Another pause as he was probably checking the it.

"The pulse is… I think it's normal. If only a bit erratic."

"Good." Claire said. "Where are you right now?"

The location he gave her surprised her. It looked like Daredevil decided to stumble upon some church. Claire shrugged it. Well, Matt could never predict where he was going to collapse, being half dead and all… And he was lucky that some random parishioner decided to call to her…

"It looks like he suffers a blood loss." She informed Lantom. "Hang on, I will come soon. Meanwhile you try to stop the bleeding…" She was going to ask him if he had any cloth to put it on the wound, but he said:

"I already did that."

"Oh…"

Well, he was a quick thinker. Good.

"Okay then. I'm on my way."

She disconnected, gathered everything she needed and left to the place the fearsome Daredevil was supposed to be.

When she got to the place and entered the church, she quickly spotted a figure lying on the floor. That view didn't surprise her all that much. She was actually prepared for something like that. However, she wasn't prepared for the fact that there was a priest bending over Matt and trying to stop the bleeding with a violet scarf.

She shouldn't be surprised all that much. After all, it was a church and Matt once told her he was Catholic. And, honestly, who would be in the church at this hour, if not a priest? Still, for a moment Claire was looking at Lantom – oh, sorry, father Lantom – because, really, of all the people in the world, she would never suspect a priest kneeling next to Daredevil and trying to stop the vigilante's bleeding.

Their eyes met. Both father Lantom and nurse Temple were observing each other with some kind of curiosity… and understanding. They were meeting for the first time and there were few questions hanging in the air (like: "How did you came to know Daredevil, father?"), but there was a bit more pressing matter and they both decided to leave the questions… for now.

Claire's gaze quickly turned from priest's face to the unconscious Matt. The nurse kneeled and started to examine the wound.

"Damn it, where does that thing open?" She said, searching for any kind of zip up.

"Well…" A weak voice began. Both Claire and father Lantom looked at Matt, who apparently decided to wake up. "there must be something at my belt…"

He instructed her on what she should do to take the costume off.

"Can you check my head too?" He asked. "I think, I have a concussion, but I'm not sure."

Claire touched his mask, but she suddenly froze. She looked at father Lantom and then back on Matt.

"Hey, are you sure… we can trust him?"

Matt smiled. Then he lifted his head and turned to the priest.

"Father Lantom, Claire. Claire," He turned to her. "this is father Lantom. He's my confessor."

And suddenly everything was clear. Strangely enough, she could imagine the Devil of Hell's Kitchen going to the church in full gear and sitting in the confession booth to tell some very confused priest that he just kicked butt of few criminals.

The priest in question looked a bit embarrassed, but he quickly regained his composure and with a really calm expression said:

"Pleased to meet you, nurse Temple. I would shake your hand, but I'm busy right now."

Claire gave him a small smile.

"Pleased to meet you too, father. Now," She looked at Matt. "let's see what we have here…"

It turned out Matt didn't have a concussion. He did, however, have a wound on his chest that needed to be fixed. All three of them decided that it would be better if they move Matt to the bench in the forefront, where he would be able to lay down in more comfortable position, while Claire would have much more space to maneuver. So Claire and father Lantom helped the shirtless and maskless vigilante to walk to the forefront, they settled him carefully on the bench and the nurse began the stitching.

For the first few seconds father Lantom was just observing Matt's torso covered in scars and Claire working on the stitches. But then he suddenly stood up and went to the sacristy, leaving the nurse and her patient alone. There was a short moment of silence and then…

"I wish you two could meet in a better circumstances." Matt said.

"Yeah, you have a habit of introducing your friends to me, while being half dead." Claire retorted. "So maybe next time just make a dinner for me and your landlord."

"My landlord doesn't know I'm Daredevil."

"Well then, it's a shame. Maybe you would get a vigilante discount."

Matt gave a hiss of pain. For a few seconds he was silent.

"What do you think about my priest?" He asked suddenly.

Claire looked at him with mild surprise, but then just returned to her work.

"And what should I think? He's fine, I guess."

"I will have to apologize to him. For staining his stole."

It took Claire few seconds to recall from the depths of her memory the information that the stole was the name for the violet scarf priests were wearing during liturgy and father Lantom was using to stop Matt's bleeding.

"He has a more pressing matter on his mind right now. One of his parishioners was wounded." She replied.

Father Lantom came back and sat next to Matt.

"I've brought a shirt and a chocolate bar, Matthew." He explained, then put the clothes next to Matt and the chocolate bar in vigilante's hands.

The blind man smiled.

"Oh, and it has almonds! Thank you, father." He said, but didn't unwrap the bar.

At first Claire didn't know why the priest did that (was he treating Matt like a child?), but then something clicked in her mind. Oh, yeah, when you were donating blood, at the end you were getting a chocolate to supplement the energy. Not a bad idea, although, on a larger scale it would probably not be effective. Once again father Lantom proved to be a quick thinker.

Another moment of silence. Claire was doing her work, while father Lantom observed it. And suddenly he chuckled.

The nurse gave him a quick glance before she asked:

"What's so funny, father?"

"I thought that there was no way I would ever be able to make a decent stitches. I can't even sew a button in my shirt."

"If it will be of any comfort for you, father, my first stitches looked horrible. It all comes down to practice."

"You can always take a sip of whiskey so your hands would be steady." Matt added, smiling.

"I'm just really grateful I never had to treat such wounds myself." Father Lantom said with a bit melancholic tone.

Claire glanced at him again and a weird thought crossed her mind – a thought that he wasn't actually staring at her hand stitching up Matt, but at Matt's wounded, covered with scars torso. Who knew – maybe he was seeing it for the first time. After all, what were the odds that Daredevil was taking his shirt off in church? And from the look on the priest's face, father Lantom was disturbed by the view.

Claire shot him a gentle smile.

"Don't worry, father. You did a good job."

"Yes," Matt joined in comforting. "you didn't panic and you knew what to do before the medical help would come. I would probably bleed to death, if it wasn't for your quick thinking."

A small smile crossed priest's face, but then his expression was once again sad.

"Human body is such a feeble thing…" He said, almost whispered. "And there are so many ways to cause it pain."

Claire finished the stitching and started to put the bandage on the wound. A very uncomfortable silence fell upon them and when she looked at Matt, he also seemed to be disturbed by priest's words. She knew why was that. He probably did something nasty to someone, who probably deserved it, nevertheless, the vigilante wasn't happy about it.

But he dismissed it with a smile and said:

"You know, Claire, you have to taste father Lantom's latte."

She raised her eyebrows and looked at the priest.

"It's not the best latte in the world, but it's decent." He said.

"To be fair, I could use some caffeine after what happened." The nurse replied.

"We all could." Matt added.

"Well then, I will prepare three cups."

Father Lantom stood up and once again, he left them alone.

"Done." Claire said with sense of accomplishment. "Now, remember to be careful with the stitches. Try to move as little as possible."

Matt put the chocolate bar on the bench and took the shirt left by the priest.

"I know." He said, starting to put the shirt on. "Claire, you go to the sacristy and tell father Lantom I will join you later."

He seemed distant. He probably had something on his mind and needed some time alone.

Claire didn't say much. She just stood up and went to the backdoor, she had previously seen father Lantom exiting. When she was in the sacristy, she spotted Matt's priest almost immediately. He was walking towards the door, holding two cups of coffee. When he saw her, he stopped.

"Oh, and where is Matthew?"

"He told me to tell you that he'll come later."

"I see." Father Lantom looked down, before he gazed at the nurse again and said: "Well then I guess he have to be left alone for now. Come," He pointed the long table that probably was place where the parish council was meeting. "before the coffee gets cold."

Matt didn't lie – the latte really was good. For the next couple of minutes Claire and father Lantom were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and talking about random things (mostly Matt-related)… Actually, no, scratch that. She was mostly doing the talking. The priest proved to be as reserved as Daredevil himself. It was kind of annoying, because she would like to talk about Matt's escapades with someone, who also was sharing his secret and with whom Matt shared the details of his vigilante work (for some reason, Foggy didn't always know what his friend was doing previous night). So she was asking father Lantom about certain things, like: "Do you recall, father, when Matt was fighting with a ninja?", hoping that he will say something, but he was still silently sipping his coffee. Still, she was persistent.

"Please, can we not talk about it?" He finally spoke. "If you feel the need to get it out of your system, fine, but don't expect me to do the same. Because I can't say anything."

At first Claire wanted to ask why, but then got another of those enlightening moments of this night. Oh, right. He was Matt's confessor. That meant that whatever Matt was telling him, the priest couldn't reveal it to anybody.

"I'm sorry, father. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

He gave her a forgiving smile, but suddenly he looked at the door. And then he turned to the nurse.

"It's taking Matthew too long." He stood up. "Excuse me, nurse Temple. I have to check on him."

And before she could say anything, he left. At first she was just sitting at the table, holding the cup of latte, but then she realized she was kind of curious. Maybe there was something wrong with Matt… or maybe he was just contemplating something and lost the track of time. Either way, despite her better judgment, she stood up and went to the door. It was thick and she could hardly hear anything, so she opened it a bit and looked into church.

She saw Matt and father Lantom sitting on the bench. The priest was looking at the vigilante with somewhat disinterested expression.

"You don't like almonds?" He asked. "I have other flavors, if that's the case."

"No, father, I just can't take it." Matt replied and gave the chocolate bar back to the priest.

"And why is that, Matthew?"

Matt gave a heavy sight.

"You recall, father, this raising method, when children are good and parents or teachers decide to reward them with candies?" He asked. Father Lantom didn't say anything, he just let Matt continue: "For some reason, taking this chocolate would seem like a reward. And I don't deserve a reward for what have I done tonight."

"Oh, I see." Father Lantom crossed his arms. "So what you have done tonight?"

For a moment Matt was silent, but then he turned his head in father Lantom's direction. And then he told him about the group of gang members he encountered in some alley, when they were trying to force an owner of grocery shop to pay them for "protection". It went like most of Matt's actions – some of them were trying to put up a fight, while others fled as soon as they saw him (the grocery shop's owner ran away too). But when Matt was going to ask one of the remaining gangsters who they were working for, someone attacked him from behind.

"He sounded like he was thirteen or something. And he screamed: 'Leave my brother alone!'" Matt bit his lip and continued: "They were brothers, father. I don't know, if the younger one was dragged into this, or if he actually wanted to join the gang. I only know that I suddenly realized that I was hurting his family member and before that realization I was going to beat the crap out of that family member."

"You realized that they are human beings." Father Lantom stated.

"You know how I sometimes fear I might like hurting people. It was one of these moments."

Claire wasn't surprised by this statement. In fact, not so long time ago she told Matt that she couldn't be with someone, who was so close to become what he fights with. It seemed that he was always painfully aware of that possibility.

"And what you did with them, when you realized they are brothers, Matthew?" Father Lantom asked.

"At first I was just standing there, thinking what to do. And then they attacked me, leaving the wound in my chest, and ran away as fast as they could. Still, I can't stop thinking about them, father. And about the fact that I almost hurt someone close to this kid. I was wondering, if they are orphans or if their parents are neglectful or abusive towards them…" He made a short pause, and with a heavy sigh, added: "Or if these two kids… because they were nothing else, but kids… ever got any help from anyone in their whole lives."

For a moment father Lantom wasn't saying anything. He just rested his hands on his knees and looked at the altar. Finally he spoke:

"You know, I don't condone many of your actions, Matthew." He turned to him and said: "But there is always one thing that I'm sure: At least you have any kind of remorse about it. You're aware that you might end up as a monster and you're disturbed by it. Many people don't realize it until it's too late and they're completely consumed by darkness." Even if his interlocutor could see it, father Lantom smiled to him. He took the chocolate bar and gave it to Matt. "If anything, you've learned a valuable lesson today, Matthew. Next time, when you encounter kids in the gang, tell them to come here. I will see, what we can do for them."

For the first time during this conversation, Matt smiled.

"I will." He nodded. "Thank you, father."

In the end, father Lantom rested his hand reassuringly on Matt's shoulder and said:

"You're a work in progress, Matthew. Like everyone else. Now," He leaned more towards him. "your latte is probably cold, so how about I'll make you another one?"

Matt smiled even wider and with the priest's assistance started to walk towards the sacristy. Claire quickly closed the door, sat at the table and tried to act causal.

Soon they were sitting and talking over the cups of latte like nothing big happened. Watching Matt, Claire couldn't help but think that he was a bit more lighthearted… like the conversation he had with father Lantom and all the heavy stuff there didn't take place. The nurse looked at the priest and started to wonder how many of these kind of conversations both men had throughout their relationship.

It seemed that Claire and father Lantom were here to heal. She was healing Matt's body, while father Lantom was healing his soul.