Chapter 16

Matt stood outside the building listening. He half-heartedly hoped that he'd hear somewhere he should be other than where he was about to go. He listened inside for Foggy and Karen as well. They were watching TV. Not surprising. Matt rolled his eyes and caught the front door with his cane as a resident exited. He inhaled, holding it open in his hands for a few seconds before he sighed and passed through.

Foggy didn't love the prospect of a multi-level walk-up in the event of an electrical or elevator failure, such as when a giant alien robot tore through the city, so he'd chosen this place accordingly. Matt trudged up two flights of stairs, still not excited with the prospect of a fight with Foggy, or Karen, or both. He slid into the third floor hall, closing the door silently behind him. Foggy's flat was on the other end of the hall, past the elevators in the middle. Matt soon arrived at the door and knocked.

No one else would come this late at night. Foggy didn't even look through the peephole before opening the door. Matt heard him sigh as he did so and held out the beer to his friend.

"Do I have to let you in if I take that?" inquired Foggy.

"That was sort of my plan," Matt revealed, chewing on his lip.

Foggy held the door. "Go on, then."

"Where's Karen?"

"Bathroom. We're in between episodes of Stranger Things."

"You'll have to tell me about it later."

"Yeah, it's kind of visual. You wouldn't really appreciate it."

Matt held up the beer. "Should I put these in the fridge?"

"Or we could drink them." He pulled three bottles from the box before Matt deposited it on the table as he took a seat.

Karen returned and Foggy held out a bottle to her before claiming the chair beside Matt's.

"I brought a peace offering," Matt explained.

She accepted it and leaned against the kitchen counter, throwing him more than a little side eye. "Well you needed to."

"I'm sorry about today, about a lot of days." He took a drink. "I'm sorry about a lot of things, actually."

"While that's nice to hear, but I'm not sure where we can go from here," Foggy admitted.

"I didn't come here about Nelson and Murdock, at least not in the way you're thinking." He took another swig, giving them all a minute to prepare for what was coming. "Liz is taking a job in Star City, and I'm going with her."

No one spoke. Matt waited. Foggy swallowed a couple of times, looked over at a stricken Karen and then back at Matt before he found his voice.

"Are you sure?"

"No. I'm not." Matt shrugged, ending in a shake of his head. "I don't know if it will work out, if we'll work out, but I don't know that I have another option."

"And you figured this out on you own?" Karen managed.

Matt ducked slightly. "I don't want to lose her."

"Good to know where we rate," she scoffed, taking another long pull off her bottle for emphasis.

"She's pregnant, Karen. That changes things. She knows that's a big part of the deal, but she's willing to give me another chance."

She stared over at him, giving a questioning shake of the head. "You're really going to give up all of this?"

"All of what, really? The three of us barely have a relationship – personal or professional, and the other stuff is the wedge between me and all of you." Matt sighed. "My dad wasn't perfect – far from it, but he tried. And at least I can provide for my family."

Foggy jumped on this. "Exactly. Jack let people beat on him to put food on the table. You don't have that excuse to stand on."

"I do understand that, Foggy," Matt replied rather sharply before reigning in that surge of emotion that came with the invocation of his father's memory. He took another deep breath before he continued. "It's something Liz and I have discussed at length and will continue to discuss.

"Part of leaving will mean that, at least to an extent, I'll give up that part of myself. I know this doesn't seem fair that I'd be willing to agree to this for her when I haven't for what I have here with the two of you, and I don't know that I can explain it to you because it's something I'm still struggling with. I'm not sure how to reconcile that part of who I am with who I want to be for her. I'm note even trying to pretend that I've figured it out yet, but she says she's willing to let me try."

Karen touched his arm. "I, or well, we want you to be happy. And honestly, I didn't know what that would look like exactly, but I do know you have to make this choice for you, not for her. Otherwise, you'll resent her for painting you into a corner. But if this is it, and if she's who and what makes you happy, then who are we to stand in your way?"

"I appreciate that, Karen. I want to go with her, and if I do, it's with the understanding that I won't be wearing the suit." That wasn't completely true, but these two didn't need to know that. Matt swallowed this hidden truth and continued without a missed beat. "And while I agree with you in that I can't do this for her, if I don't try, then I can't say I've really given our future a chance."

"Are you going to practice law?" Foggy asked after he'd considered Matt's previous thoughts.

Matt nodded. "Yeah. Liz has a lead on a position that sounds promising. We should hear some news in a few days." He decided again to omit any discussion of Oliver Queen and any potential extracurricular activities of the other man's.

Foggy reached over, placing his hand on Matt's shoulder. "I will miss you, man."

"I'll miss you too, Foggy. But you can finally take your place at Landman and Zack."

Foggy laughed. "I'm about two years too late for that, but Marci's been looking out for me, still, and Hogarth, Chao & Benowitz will do just fine. And with Karen on staff at The Bulletin, things with Nelson & Murdock feel final."

"Yeah, somehow neatly complete," agreed Karen.

"I guess that's my cue." Matt stood. "Plus it's late and I should go."

Foggy and Karen followed him to the door. "Keep us in the loop."

Matt nodded. "Thanks for letting me in tonight. I was a little concerned that you might not."

Karen reached up and kissed his cheek. "It crossed his mind. Mine, too."

"Yeah, well." He shrugged. "Thanks for hearing me out. Night guys." When he made it to the street, he called Liz. She answered breathlessly on the second ring.

"Matt? Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. No, sorry. I forgot how late it was. I'm fine - just leaving Foggy's and I wanted to hear your voice."

She released a tremendous sigh on the other end of the phone. "Oh. Okay. I just didn't know if you…I thought you might need …"

Matt stopped her. "No. Everything's fine. I'm sorry your first thought when I call you in the middle of the night is that I might need help. It should just be that I missed you and I love you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Go back to sleep."

"I was just drifting off."

"I'll see you tomorrow – or later today I guess."

"Okay. And Matt? I love you too."

He stuck the phone back in his pocket, eyes closed with his head slightly bowed, he vowed to try to change that for her. At least for a while.

TBC