Longer synopsis: This is the story of Trish & Matt getting to know each other, being drawn to each other, fighting each other and coming to terms with each others unwillingness to stand by, when someone needs help. She finds out he's Daredevil and becomes Hellcat herself (which looking back turned out very different than it did on the show). Along for the ride is, of course, a very sarcastic Jessica, waiting for it to crash and burn and throwing in annoyed comments here and there, but also caring too much about these two idiots.

This is set before Jessica Jones season 2 and after The Defenders. Fisk is about to be released.

I've rewritten most of the chapters a little bit, but the story is still the same, basically.

Chapter 1: Alive

"The horny vigilante that you wanted me to be like is an asshole." Ever since Jessica Jones had a tiring argument with Matthew Murdock AKA Daredevil she is in a foul mood and it doesn't help that Trish keeps taking his side. In fact it's fucking annoying. Of course, her adoptive sister never really got to know the stupid bastard. Even his identity is still a secret from her. She is very curious, but she does understand the reason for hiding it. What she doesn't know is that someone else has been keeping Daredevil alive in his absence the last couple of months while he was still healing. And all because the guy basically sacrificed himself, making the Black Sky, his brainwashed ex, his sole responsibility while everyone else fled the building that collapsed on him. Jerk.

"He acts like he can deal with everything on his own and doesn't need anyone's help."

"Sounds like you." Trish chuckles.

"Well, he doesn't have superhuman strength or healing and he's also not indestructible like Luke", Jessica argues. Leaving out the little identifying detail that he is also blind, which did not seem to hold him back. Her sister looks surprised. "That makes it even more impressive that he's still around."

Jessica snorts. "It's close to a miracle. We did already think he was dead for a moment back when that building collapsed." And that moment was a lot longer than Trish thinks. His lawyer persona is even still believed to be dead. Mostly.

"It almost sounds like you give a damn."

"Occasionally I do."

Jessica was the first to find out Matt was alive. He must have gotten through to his psycho ex girlfriend after all, because Elektra dropped him in the care of nuns and that's where he was wallowing on his own, even after he was - physically at least - able to leave. He probably reached out to her, because she would keep it secret, but he wanted to know that his friends were alright. Jessica had to get him kicked out of the convent. He's probably still mad about the way she did it. But she was doing him a favor. Rotting there between self pity and guilt was never going to make him feel any better. He was a mess. It was the first time she was actually glad that he had his stupid old fashioned believes, because this way he would never contemplate suicide. Well, not actively.

He wasn't even excited about beating up bad guys again. Danny was actually doing an okay job as Daredevil. And to be able to bring his lawyer personality back, Matt had to let his friends know he's alive and he was not able to face Foggy and Karen after all that grief. That was the explanation he gave her anyway. Of course, she only realized much later that his reluctance to come back from the dead officially had also a lot to do with Wilson Fisk threatening everyone close to him, because he had put the powerful criminal in prison. He only told her about that after she forced him out of his hiding spot, from where he was silently - like a sad and creepy stalker - watching his former best friend who then suffered the shock of his life.

Matt did not understand why Jessica was so invested in him getting his life back together. He called her, because he thought she wouldn't care. Maybe it had to do with her own superhero career ending badly. Apparently her friend Trish did help her through all of the Killgrave shit. But Foggy was never that supportive about Matt's night activities and he did not want to drag him into it all again now that he finally didn't need to worry about him anymore.

Still, Jessica was right about his friend deserving to know the truth. Although Matt was not looking forward to being shouted at again. Which surprisingly did not happen this time. There were only silent tears followed by a very long hug. They were even joking a bit and he did feel better shortly. Then he remembered Fisk and panicked, blaming Jessica for forcing him to appear in front of Foggy. He told his heartbroken friend that Matthew Murdock had to stay dead which meant they could only meet in secret, at least as long as Fisk was alive. Foggy was not going to argue with that.

But Jessica would. Hence the shouting match.

"You can't live on the streets as long as Fisk is alive!"

"What I can't do is put my friends in danger again!" Seeing Foggy again and actually talking to him was such a huge relief after so many months staying alone. Still, it was also a huge risk.

"That was the biggest mistake of my life and I don't want to repeat it."

He left Foggy standing in the park after their short reunion and forced himself to keep going, to ignore the other man's heartbeat that told him how upset he was. It was the right thing to do.

It wasn't really about him being Matt Murdock again. She wasn't even pushing him to be Daredevil, although she did suspect that he needed to be a hero more than she ever did. It was more about not giving up on himself and trying to find a way to move on, no matter how and who he was going to be. She thought about killing Fisk herself, but was smart enough not to mention that to him. She didn't have his moral inhibitions, at least that's what she thought. The guy was clearly evil and if he was never going to leave Matt alone, maybe he needed to die. It was better for all of Hell's Kitchen and she would appreciate some help in taking him down, preferably from the guy who had done it before.

Why does she even care? Maybe because they already lost Daredevil and she feels she could have done more to keep him alive. She's not blaming herself, it was his stupid choice to stay down there and they really weren't that close. But hearing his voice again when he called her to ask about Foggy and Karen was the first pleasant surprise since all this vigilante business seemed to mess up her life. It was good.

Matt refusing her help, because he is still angry with her for getting him thrown out by the nuns, and living on the streets is not good. He deserves better.

Trish sounds very interested in the so called "Defenders" on her show and it doesn't appear to be just because of her friend Jessica. Matt can hear her talk on the subject, because someone in the next building is listening to the radio while he is trying to sleep on the cold ground. To her vigilantism seems more exciting than her other talk show topics. He has noticed that whenever he decided to listen in. It's about life and death after all and she seems to be quite passionate about justice, especially when the system fails to provide it. Trish is convinced they do make New York a safer place and she would fight every troll caller over that.

Matt even hears her defend Daredevil on her show, when someone says he is losing his touch. It is actually amusing since they don't know he is criticising a substitute and Matt is a tiny bit proud that Danny Rand is not living up to his standard without using the fist. But concern for his city wins over and he thinks he needs to go take over the costume again soon.

Then Trish gets agitated for his sake: "Whoever Daredevil is, he does not owe us anything. He has taken up the role as a protector of Hell's Kitchen and that was his choice. Nobody asked him to do that and I am grateful that he did. Maybe he's just a guy like you and me who decided to make a difference, who trained very hard, because he was sick of seeing the suffering around him. It is only human to have a bad day sometimes or need a break. Which means he needs our support more than ever." Of course the caller immediately doubts Daredevil not getting paid by some corporate company and how would she know so very much about him anyway? Even Matt is wondering how much Jessica has told her friend. But her image of him seems way too heroic to be influenced by his alcoholic acquaintance who makes a sport of insulting him. He smiles.

Jessica also hears Trish getting worked up over Danny's performance in the devil suit. The Immortal Iron Fist doesn't hear every cry from blocks away and he also gives himself a rest sometimes which Matt probably rarely did. Trish wouldn't know. She's been so excited about Jessica teaming up with this merry group of weirdos that she does not want to see their flaws. And because of that Jessica has been making sure she never gets to meet any of them.

But maybe it would be a good idea for Matt to talk to her once, without her knowing he used to wear horns in his free time. Hearing her fangirling over Daredevil might amuse him and cheer him up a little. And maybe get him to listen to her and stop this self destructive nonsense.

Everyone makes plans to deal with problems that don't have simple solutions. They run away, lay low for a while, ask for help or are too proud or independent to accept support. But sometimes plans don't work out and you have to go with the only option that's left.

The next day a newspaper prints a picture of Matthew Murdock that proves he is alive. The headline says: "Blind lawyer living on the streets"