One Month Later

The last few weeks were a blur. After giving statements to the police, Andy, Nica, and the Defenders were allowed to go their separate ways. As the NYPD cracked down on Fisk's criminal syndicate, both low life criminals and business CEOs were arrested, as well as officers of the law. Among those arrested were Turk Barrett, Joy Meachum, and Priscilla Ridley. Because of the arrests, Ward and Danny had to step in to curb Rand Enterprises from falling into disarray, while Misty Knight and her fellow officers were forced to step up and work twice as hard to uphold the law. All the while, the Defenders faded into the shadows, barely being seen or heard from…

London

Matt Murdock walked down the streets, cane in hand, with Elektra holding his arm to support him.

"We finally made it, Matthew." Elektra smiled. "We're finally free."

"I'm just happy that Karen and Foggy understood." Matt grinned, tilting his head and hearing every voice in the city. "Still want to visit Madrid or Tunisia?" Elektra laughed, remembering her suggestions back when they had fought the Hand.

"London is perfect, Matthew." Elektra said, planting her lips onto Murdock's. Even though Big Ben was on the other side of the city, Matt could still hear the chiming of the gigantic clock because of his honed in senses.

"It's getting late." Murdock told Natchios, once their kiss ended. "Are you hungry?"

"Of course." Elektra smiled. "I saw an Italian restaurant down the block." Matt and Elektra soon found themselves sitting at a table outside, ordering a shared plate of ratatouille. Throughout the meal, Matt and Elektra talked and laughed about their future together, happy that Murdock had finally received the happy ending he deserved.

Alias Investigations

Jessica was in the middle of reading through a case, when Trish entered her office.

"You wanted to see me?" Trish asked. Jessica looked up.

"Yeah." Jones replied. "I think I've finally had enough time to wrap my head around all this bullshit."

"What?" Trish asked, confused.

"Get the whiskey, will you?" Jessica requested, ignoring the look on her sister's face. Bewildered, Trish opened a cabinet, and handed Jones the entire bottle.

"Thanks." Jessica muttered, pulling the cap off and drinking right from the bottle.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Patsy asked.

"I just want you to know-" Jessica set the bottle down. "-that I understand now."

"Understand what?" Trish asked.

"Why you killed my mother." Jessica explained. "I kept thinking that it shouldn't have been you, but if it wasn't, I would've been dead too."

"No, Jess, I was wrong." Trish insisted. "I wanted to have powers like you, and I did everything to get them. I said that you don't deserve your powers, but you do. You're not selfish like I am."

"I still feel like I am." Jessica mumbled, taking another swig of whiskey. "Back at the Yves building, I had to kill your real sister."

"Jess, she was trying to kill you." Trish told her. "And she threatened your friends. I won't hold that against you."

"Thanks, Patsy." Jessica sadly smiled, hugging Walker.

"Does that mean you and I are good?" Trish asked hopefully, returning the hug.

"Not yet." Jessica told her. "But it's a start."

Pop's Barber Shop

Luke Cage sat in one of the shop's chairs, sadly going through news and tweets on his phone. It had only been a few weeks since the final battle at the Yves building, and since then, Luke had become depressed that he was pushed to the point of killing his own brother. That was why a few days after the incident, he had gone straight to Mother's Touch and handed ownership of Harlem's Paradise to Tilda Johnson, the daughter of Mariah Stokes. After all, she was the one who actually wanted the place, evidenced by her expression when Donovan read Mariah's will. Harlem's Paradise did come with one condition though, and Cage made Tilda promise not to start any gang wars, and to help control crime in New York. Even though he hated it, he had to admit that controlling crime did help in slowing down.

Luke became lost in his thoughts, that he didn't even notice the barber shop's door open.

"Luke?" Cage looked in the direction of the doorway, seeing Danny Rand come in. "What're you doing here, man? I haven't heard from you in weeks. Claire's worried about you."

"There's nothing much I can do." Luke mumbled, turning his attention back to his phone. "I can't do this anymore."

"What, you can't help defend New York?" Danny asked, sitting down in the other chair. "Come on, Luke."

"Danny, I killed my brother." Luke told the Iron Fist. "I thought I could attone by giving up the club, but so far, I don't feel any better. I'm considering in turning myself in and going back to Seagate for this."

"Luke, I know how you're thinking right now." Rand said truthfully. "That night at Yves, I lost my brother too. And I know that you believe your penance is either moping around here, or in a jail cell."

"It's not just that." Cage added. "Even before I knew Willis was my brother, he was my best friend. And I killed him in cold blood."

"Luke, I need you. Your friends need you. New York needs you." Danny reasoned. "I'm not saying you shouldn't get penance, you probably should. But attone for it as being Harlem's Hero." After finishing his speech, Danny held out his hand. Luke stared at him for a moment, before deciding to agree.

"Alright, man. I'm in." Luke shook Danny's hand, before doing a fist bump, ready to get back out on the streets.

Central Park

"I always loved coming here with my kids." Frank murmured, sitting in front of the carousel with Karen.

"Didn't think you'd want to come back." Karen remarked, staring at the children riding the horses. "Especially after Billy…"

"Russo's gone, Karen." Castle reminded her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Everyone involved in the murder of my family is dead now."

"So why are we here?" Karen asked.

"Because I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, ever since you saved me in Micro's old hideout." Frank explained, and he reached into his hoodie, careful not to reveal his Punisher vest, and pulled out a small silver ring, with a black diamond attached to the top of it. At first, Karen stared at the jewelry, confused, but then realized what he meant. "If you want me to go on my knees…"

"No, no, you're fine." Karen quickly said. "But how can you?"

"I thought I'd never be capable of feeling love again, after Maria…" Frank began, looking off at the carousel, then turned his head back to Page. "But then I realized that you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I want there to be an end to my mission." Karen looked at Frank, smiling, and slipped the ring on.

"My answer is yes." Karen whispered, and she and Castle kissed, with their heads being haloed by the carousel horses.

Andy's Apartment

Nica woke up after a peaceful night's rest, surprised that she didn't hear Andy scream at all. Once she rolled over, she realized the reason was most likely because he wasn't in bed with her, with his side of the covers laying at the foot of the bed. Bewildered at first, Nica got up, put on clothes for the day as quickly as she could, and walked over to the kitchen, where she finally found Andy sitting at the table, drinking coffee and staring at several newspapers laid out on the table.

"Morning." Andy smiled, sipping his coffee. Nica looked down at the papers, noticing they were old news. One read of the Incident, another of Sokovia, and a third, most recent paper, retold the events of the massive crime wave a month prior. "Sleep well?"

"Surprisingly yes." Nica admitted, approaching the counter and making herself a cup of fresh coffee. "Alice is already at school?"

"Yeah." Andy informed. "I'm kinda glad we got her into Midtown with Zach and Leo."

"Me too." Nica agreed, taking a drink of her coffee and sat down across from her husband. "Ready to go to another meeting?"

"I'd like you to come with." Andy told her. "Curtis said we can bring friends and family for this one."

"Are you sure?" Nica asked. "I can't possibly contribute-"

"Then just listen." Andy requested, placing his hand over hers. "Please."

Ten minutes later, Nica and Andy arrived at the church basement where Curtis' support group was, sitting down with Curtis, Frank Castle, Danny Rand, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. Standing behind them were Karen, Colleen, Claire, and Trish. None of the military veterans were there, indicating that Curtis set up a special support group for the day.

"Thanks for coming again, Andy." Curtis spoke up. "I didn't think you'd show."

"Hey, there's not a lot of people I feel comfortable opening up to." Andy replied. "For as long as I remember, I've had to live in paranoia, for fear that the doll would come after me. Now, with him being destroyed for good this time, I thought I could get a normal life, but that was all squashed when Wilson Fisk and Russo broke out, along with bringing an old acquaintance back. Now that they're all gone, I don't know where to go from here, because running and fighting is all I've ever known."

"Sounds like you're a shit magnet." Frank mumbled. "Then again, there isn't a single person in this room that isn't."

"Including Matt." Jessica pointed out. "Kind of a shame he had to go."

"He just wanted a fresh start." Danny reminded everyone. "We can't really blame him for wanting to leave everything else behind."

"I know where he's coming from." Luke agreed. "That's partly why I changed my name and moved here."

"Point being, you don't have to run anymore, Andy." Curtis said. "We all have your back. You still have nightmares?"

"No, I just have the same dream now." Andy replied. "It's odd, it always involves my father. I never really new Tom, he died before I was born. I guess that would make us the same age now, maybe a ten year difference…"

"Anything interesting that happens?" Nica asked her husband.

"It always is for the audience." Andy muttered, before turning to everyone else. "My father and I are driving down a road, somewhere in the countryside. The car we're driving is always a 1988 Chevy Corvette, painted black. Where we're going, I don't know. I can only assume it's something fathers and sons do, like fishing or hunting. Sometime farther down the road, a newer car speeds up to us. That one is usually a 2008 Malibu, painted red and gold. I can never be sure, but the drivers in some way resemble Frank and Matt." At the mention of his name, Frank's ears perked up, and he began paying even closer attention to the story.

"My car and their car end up basically drag racing at this point, trying to reach our destination first," Andy continued. "When the corvette begins slowing down, eventually stopping completely because the engine gave out, while the malibu blasts ahead, leaving us in the dust. And then…" there was a pause, and Andy looked down.

"Then what?" Frank asked, and Andy looked up, staring at everyone with tired, stressed out eyes.

"And then I wake up."

The End