itinere | Open | I'm taking a stand to escape what's inside me

Matt's suit showed up a few days after the monsters did. Maybe the city had decided it needed him, or maybe Matt was just ready to pick up the mantle of Daredevil again. Whichever it was, he's dived back into being a vigilante whole heartedly. He's spent every possible hour out in Itinere trying to save people. At first, he'd been hesitant about killing the monsters. He'd been very clear back home about taking lives, but the more often he fights these things the more clear it becomes they're not human and that relieves the guilt he would normally feel about taking lives. He's not a vegetarian and he's never picked up on the buddhist idea of not taking any life, human or otherwise. He may have studied many different kinds of combat, but spiritually he's remained very Catholic.

He hasn't been sleeping much since he picked up the suit, but he's used to that. In fact, in many ways he's more comfortable with this life style than he is with the one of relaxation and leisure he's been living since arriving in Itinere. He checks in every day with those that he's befriended: Derek, Claire, Katniss, Prim and Bo. He sleeps when he can, usually in his own apartment where he's got a sound machine that mimics the city back home.

For anyone that needs help, Matt is out there. He's listening from the tops of buildings for screams, for people in danger. He wants to help.

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Matt supposes it is a rather 20th century concept. Even then, he's not sure that it's something that really came about until Captain America in the forties. Matt hadn't originally set out to be a superhero and if he couldn't hear everyone's pain and cries for help, he might not be one now. He's more comfortable with the term vigilante, but that has more to do with his own issues than anything.

When he hears the bow pulled back, he starts trying to give her the space to take the shot. Of course, that's easier said than done. The lizard thing has no desire to keep any space between them. Matt has to find a weak spot and work at it until the lizard is pushed back a bit. Once that happens, he ducks and gets well out of the way when he hears Katniss' arrow fly. He'll wait until he hears it hit and knows it's a fatal shot before he goes to her, one hand reaching out to her.

"Katniss, it's okay now. They're gone." He starts speaking to her before he gets to her, wanting her to realize that it's him approaching her.

Katniss hears his words but they don't register. She's still feeling the shock of seeing the lizard mutts to begin with, still caught in the back flashes of running through the Capitol tunnels. She sees Finnick dying again and again. She hears herself whispering 'nightlock, nightlock, nightlock' over and over. It's as if she's trapped in the cycle of nightmares even though she's awake. Itinere hasn't always been safe but it's never had mutts.

Her grip stays tight on her bow as Matt approaches. She has enough common sense not to reach for another arrow. It's Matt. It's Matt in the dark red suit. Matt that saved her. Matt that's still alive.

Still alive.

She should've been the one to die that day. She should've been the one to die when the parachutes exploded. Why did she survive? Why? Why didn't Peeta let her take the nightlock pill? Why did Matt have to save her now.

Staying strong isn't possible anymore. She falls to her knees and hugs herself tightly and tears cloud her vision. "Dead," she whispers. "They're dead. Gone."

But she isn't referring to the lizard mutts.

Whether she's the mockingjay or not, she's too important to die. The universe seems to know that. Besides, she deserves a life, a good one.

He puts up his weapon and starts to her. Thankfully, he's close enough to catch her when her knees crumple under her. He sweeps her up in his arms, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Come on. I'll get you somewhere safe."

He has the feeling she's not referring to the lizard mutts.

No she isn't. Katniss isn't more important than anyone else in Panem or Itinere, or anywhere for that matter. If she dies, she dies. There's nothing that says she deserved (or still deserves) to live. Let alone have a good life. This is where Matt becomes so important. These are the kinds of things he'll never let her get away with thinking for long.

He also catches her when she falls. He's been there to hold her whenever the painful memories have gotten the better of her, even when they had only just been getting to know each other. There are very, very few people she'd be okay with seeing her this weak and he's one of them.

Her eyes close as he scoops her up and presses a comforting kiss on her temple. She's still replaying everyone dying in her head. Katniss can't stop the memories from flooding in. The lizard mutts have made it all too real. She takes a deep breath and another one and then leans her head against his chest. "Are you okay?"

Katniss is important to Matt. She's the most important person here, as far as he's concerned. No, he won't let her think so little of herself. Not ever, because he thinks far too highly of her.

He's trying to make sure that he's always there when she needs him. He loves her even when she's weak and he knows that he can be just as vulnerable in front of her.

He heads straight toward his apartment, using his senses to avoid any other monsters on the way. "I'm okay," he tells her quietly. "We'll be there in just a little while."

He's so good for her. So good to her. Right now, she needs this support. She needs the reminder that there's others here - people that aren't Prim - that want and maybe even need her in their lives. The appearance of the lizard mutts triggered a kind of reaction in her that she hasn't felt in a long time now. She's come a long way since the day she assassinated Coin and tried to take her own life. Giving in to that depression would be too easy.

When it comes down to it, she just can't give in all together. As much as she needs Matt, there are times he needs her. His life has been just as far from easy as her own. He needs someone to love him and remind him not to give in to his guilt.

"Good," she whispers. He's okay. He's okay. She didn't get him killed, too. Matt won't be another casualty on the long list that she often repeats in her mind. "Good. I- I can't lose you, too."

Quite frankly, Matt needs this as well. He needs someone who needs him and wants him here, him not the vigilante that he can be. Matt will do everything possible to remind Katniss that she's wanted and needed by someone other than her sister. He's been lucky and hasn't ever really suffered from depression, but he knows that it's easy to fall into and he'll give Katniss every reason not to.

He'll remind her of that as well.

She didn't get him killed. She's not going to get him killed. In fact, she'd saved him by shooting the lizard mutt. She is the reason that he is okay. He'll remind her of that too. He's got a lot of things to remind her of. "I'm not going anywhere," he tells her as he uses the fire escape to get to his apartment, sliding open the window and ducking through with her in his arms. He takes her to the couch, carefully lying her down and pulling a blanket over her. "I'm just going to get out of this suit. I'll be right back. I'll make you some tea and sit with you, okay?"

She understood the reasons why he took up the vigilante role. It isn’t always easy to sit back and do nothing. Regardless of why, sometimes you just have to take up the fight. But she’s never fully appreciated what Matt was capable of until now. Now that they’re both safe, and she’s laying on his couch wrapped in a blanket that smells so reassuringly like him, she can really appreciate what he can do. Blindness isn’t a weakness for Matt; it’s an incredible strength.

“Okay,” she whispers, pulling the blanket tighter around herself. They’re safe in here. So far, she hasn’t heard of any monsters breaking in to an apartment. Matt can change into normal clothing and get her tea. She can breathe. There aren’t any lizard mutts. And nothing, nothing she does will ever bring Finnick or the others back.

Katniss watches Matt until he’s out of sight and then stares blankly at the window they climbed through. Closing her eyes is tempting but also far too terrifying a prospect. She doesn’t want to relive that day in the Capitol. She holds his blanket close to her nose, breathing in the smell of Matt to keep her grounded in the present. It’s better that way. Better the now than the then.

Well, she's never had to see him in action. This place has been relatively safe until now, or at least it has been since Matt has been here. He'd been content enough for her to never find out what he's capable of as long as it meant she was safe. With his other abilities, she's right: blindness is a strength for him.

It doesn't take him long to take off the suit and change into soft sweat pants and a tee shirt. He puts the kettle on to boil then moves to sit on the couch next to her. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her close.

"Do you want something to eat? I can do soup or maybe make a frozen pizza."

Open | I'm taking a stand to escape what's inside me

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