16/Hell's Kitchen by Night

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Hell's Kitchen by Night
Date of Scene: 18 February 2020
Location: Hell's Kitchen, NYC
Synopsis: Daredevil meets a Widow on the streets of Hell's Kitchen.
Cast of Characters: Yelena Belova, Matthew Murdock




Yelena Belova has posed:
    Amidst the hustle and bustle of the early evening, you'd be forgiven for missing it. The crash of an SUV smashing into a dumpster at a moderate speed, followed a few seconds after by the breaking of glass, a yelp of pain and the staccato of surpressed gunfire. Then silence, and well Hells Kitchen keeps ticking right along without so much as a pause. There are no sirens, no screams of alarm and well who knows how much longer before somone calls this in.

    Down in a darkened back alley though, well it's not completely over just yet. Theres an older black escalade jammed up against a dumpster, driver side window blown out and the passenger door behind it flung open. Theres one fellow clad in black stuck in the driver seat with his head blown across the dash board. His compatriot at least apparently got out of the SUV, bungie'd MP5 still clutched in his gloved hands. Unfortunately he didn't make it more than a few steps out of the car before catching fire himself and hitting the ground in a heap.

    That leaves one woman left, everyone's favorite Widow to be precise. She stands stock still in the middle of the alley for a moment longer, her own canned pistol held on the man sprawled across the alleyway. Slowly she approaches, kicking at a shoulder to roll him over before kneeling down to press a gloved finger against his neck. Then it's a quick pat to pluck the man's cellphone free, pressing his thumb against the phone to unlock it before she starts digging...

Matthew Murdock has posed:
For just about everyone, the sounds of the crash and the supressed gunfire is lost in the background noise of Hell's Kitchen at night, though not for Daredevil.

Perched on one of his usual roosts, a spot where the acoustics were just right to let his hearing take in the sounds of his neighbourhood, the sounds come to the Devil of Hell's Kitchen as loud and clear as if they'd happened right beside him.

"Shit," he curses recognizing the sound of gunfire for what it is even as he begins to spring across the rooftops towards its source.

He's too late to save the men, he can tell that as soon as his nose picks up the smell of blood and other less pleasant scents that speak of death, but he can sense the woman, the smell of cordite clinging to her and the cooling pistol she holds in her hand. Something about how she searches the man suggests she's a pro, an amature who just gunned down two people would panic, and if there was searching to be done it's done quickly, recklessly in an effort to put distance between themselves and the crime, he's sees none of that here, so he's cautious...

Without a word of warning he throw a baton aimed at the gun hand as he drops to the alley floor behind the woman, ready to dodge if she holds onto the gun and turns it his way.

Yelena Belova has posed:
    That billy club catches the can of her little Beretta, and it goes skidding away right out. Theres not so much as a beat between losing that gun, and when she gets to moving. A blade sweeps foreward to catch the sling of that fallen man's MP-5. She bolts foreward over the corpse, tucking a shoulder as she twists around to drive her boots back down into the neck. Immediately swinging that submachinegun up, and there she pauses with a slow exhale.

    "The Devil himself, consider me honored."She's not in a costume herself, per se at least. Grey cargo pants, black field coat, ballcap pulled down low and a bandana pulled up over most of her face. Yaknow, it's pretty spy chic all things considered.

    Slowly she rises to her full height, lowering that subgun slowly. "I have no great desire to fight you, Devil. Nor did I "start shit" on your turf, these men are Assasins. So would you do me the kindness of allowing me to see who's after my head this week?"And well of note, from start to finish her heart rate's not picked up in the least. A pro indeed.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
When the the woman loses the beretta Daredevil moves too, scooping up the baton as it richochets back towards him and looking to close distance between them, except he didn't expect her to be so damn fast. He's only just snatched the baton out of the air before the MP5 is turned his way and he has to leap twisting mid air to land on top of a dumpster.

It seems they've both got an edge on your average Joe or Sally on the street when it comes to the reflexes game. He pauses, partly because of the gun, and partly because the way this woman carried herself and the way she talked so casually of killing and fighting reminded him of someone he'd tried hard to forget: Elektra.

"Guess I don't have to fire my press agent," he says when it's clear the woman knows his name, the quip flowing easily over his lips. "And you can look, but first just who the hell are you and why did these guys want you dead?"

Yelena Belova has posed:
    "You can call me "Retired", for now at least."Carefully she sets that MP5 aside, before returning to the phone. "If I put on the gear and take up the name again, I start things in motion I'm unlikely to be able to stop. So you'll excuse the discretion I hope, It's important to look before you leap yes?"

    Cell phone scanned through, she tosses it aside and begins turning out the man's pockets. Two spare MP5 magazines with blue tape around their bases, a pair of folding knives and what looks like a VHS tape wrapped in syran wrap. This arrayed, she retakes the MP5 to clear it's action and peer across it's markings. "Do me a favor, drag the other one out of the car and I'll explain what I'm looking for?"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Cute," Daredevil says about the retired line. "You look a little bit young to be colllecting a pension," he quips of course he didn't know what she looked like, his judgement was based soley of what he could get off the shapes his radar sense sent back and the heathly, steady heartbeat.

"Something tells me you're not overly cautious," after all here she was gunning down two guys and calmly searching their things. "Though I'm curious about this gear you mentioned." He didn't expect an answer but you never know unless you try.

He jumps down off the dumpster but doesn't move to drag the body out of the car as requested, "You're on your own for searching these guys, but how about you tell me what you're looking for anyhow?" he ducks down to grab the phone and makes a show of checking it himself, though his senses give back nothing more than its shape, and the scent of blood it picked up from its former owner. "After all I'm not trying to take you in for a double homicide right now, that's got to get me something."

It's slipped into a pocket in short order to be handed over to one of his sighted allies later on, though odds are it was going to be a dead end or the woman would have kept it.

Yelena Belova has posed:
    "If Americans wanted to take a shot at me, they'd have droned me. If they wanted to use a crew to do it, they'd have carried Russian weapons and spoke Russian to cover any blowback if they failed. Ray bans, these Algerian field coats you see, it's certainly very American but it fell out of fashion about five years ago. Blue tape on the magazines is another big clue, thats Spetsnaz as far back as the eighties."And a pause to toss the stripped MP5 towards Matt.
    It's an MP5 alright, with a bright titanium suppressor on one end. "Examine the weld work around the leading edge of the flats, just behind the hand guard. Do those look like the product of an obsessive Union welder from Germany?"And well they're lumpy, uneven welds for sure. Also of interest the gun's devoid of any engravings, not a single one anywhere to be found. "Two position firing selector as well, this is not anything America has ever bought. These men were going to great lengths to appear to be American intelligence assets."And finally she reaches across to tap the package wrapped in Syran wrap.
    "This is not C4, which is what Americans would use."And carefully she lifts the package, before offering it over. "Do not drop it, Trinitrobenzene feel how crumbly it feels through the plastic? They've put a bonder with it to make it less shock sensitive, but these men just went through a car crash and got shot so lets not take any chances yes? Anyway the explosive charges, very not Russian style. The explosive charge execution is a very East German technique. The SVR doesn't like to make big messes, they like to make people vanish."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Phone secured, he nods, "That does sound like the US government," Daredevil agrees, unable to keep the disaproval out of his tone. Whoever it was behind that mask they took issue with the laize faire raining destruction from the sky that had become the MO for the country's intel services.

When the gun is tossed, Daredevil catches it while still 'looking' at the coats, he gives it an inspection, turning his eyes towards it as he runs his fingers over the welds, and the smooth sides of the weapon, even with gloved hands he can feel the features she's talking about, or their lack in the case of the markings on the gun.

"I'll take your word about the explosives," Daredevil says yanking the clip and ejecting the chambered round before tossing the both into an open trash bin across the alley.

"So, what's the verdict then?" he asks. "Russians? Or guys trained by old East Germans, trying to make it look like the Russians?" she was clearly an expert and liked to talk shop, so he was happy to encourage the info dump.

Yelena Belova has posed:
    "Well not Russia, not the Americans."There comes a humm as she surveys the carnage in mute silence for a moment. "Well I'm not sure what the one still wearing my old Mantle has gotten herself into, can't discount some random nonsense she's run across. That'd be option number one. Could be something local, got spooked I'd figured something out that I havent. Thats option number two."Slowly she rises, giving her shoulders a slow roll.
    "You know New York better than I do I'll wager, and I'm not exactly sponsored anymore. So what do you know, Devil? Anyone running around town playing spy games, who'd be interested in getting me out of the city?"Slowly she tugs the zipper of that field coat open to reach inside for something.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil, mantle, gear, spy games, there are pieces of the puzzle there, but he's not got enough to tell what the picture looks like. Though he's growing more and more curious.

"Who's this woman in your old mantle?" Daredevil asks. "That might help me know what were looking for," and give him a better idea of who this woman was too.

"As for who's playing spy games in the city? Well the line between the Russian mob and Russian intelligence is always paper thin," but he was going to guess she knew that already. "The Triads occasionally do Beijing's dirty work, and of course you've got the cartels down south, they're hand in hand with a lot of inteligence communities. Guess the question is who have you pissed off?"

The hand into the jacket is noted and puts Daredevil on his guard but he makes no move to stop her. If she wanted to kill him she'd have made her move by now.

Yelena Belova has posed:
    Theres a turn away, as she peels that ballcap back and slips her face into that half mask. Theres a soft whirr as the goggles come on line, before slowly turning back. Rows of optical sensors stacked ontop of each other, anchored to a thin webbing of elastic and rubber to hold them securely in place. Underneath that jacket, well it's anything but unflattering. Skin tight matte latex or something, with a neat red hourglass across her chest. "Can you keep a secret, Devil?"
    Smirking faintly as she tightens the staps on that mask just a touch. "I'm the Black Widow, perhaps you've heard of my older sister? She does have a fantastic capacity for making enemies, but coming after little old me? Well that's a fascinating turn, don't you think?"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil cocks his head as Yelena reveals her covert identity, the suit paints a strange picture in his senses, built for stealth it baffles some of them leaving her body a hazy blur, though from the what he could tell from where she wore the jacket he doubted it looked anything but great on her.

However that wasn't why he was here.

"Well, my evening just go interesting," he says. "Yeah, heard of the Widow and what sort of trouble she can get into, so think these guys got their Widows crossed? Or is that what all the searching was about? Trying to figure out what their game was?"

Yelena Belova has posed:
    "I don't think they're after the other Widow, I don't think this was ever going to work."Theres a humm there as she leans over to scoop up her little Beretta, and well into the pocket it goes. "I think they wanted me to get upset at anyone who wasn't in New York. Suppose they figured my list of enemies is deep enough I'd twitch and run off for pay back. Whatever this is, they didn't want a loose Widow in the wind."

    "Do me a favor will you, Devil?"A snap of the wrist, and she flips the little puck over towards Matt. "If you see any wierd covert looking fucks, give that thing a squeeze and I'll come say hello. I get the distinct impression I'm going to have to catch one of these fellows alive."And well a little shrug, as she finally takes a step back. "Considering I'm asking a favor here, go ahead and give me a ring if you just need a hand. The Widow pays her debts in full, alright?"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil takes that assesment in, it made sense, in the sort of cruel calculus he had come to expect from the world of espionage. "Reasonable, it seems like you can do a lot of damage when you want to." He surveys the bodies and then turns his head back to the Widow.

The disc is snagged out of the air and considered as it rests in his palm. "Sounds like a good reason not to kill," Daredevil says a little bit of judgement creeping into his tone as he closes his fist around the little disk. "And fair enough, something tells me if there's more of these guys they're not going to be too concerned with collateral damage, if I see any more of them, I'll call."

Or if he needed her help. He had to admit someone with the skills of a Black Widow could be a useful if dangerous ally.

As for paying debts, he nods, "Understood," then he turns back to the bodies. "If you want to go, I'll make sure the cops find all this, and get them a proper burial." Assassins or not, they were still people.

Yelena Belova has posed:
    "Oh sure, nevermind the pound of high explosive they carry which is shock sensitive. Just take them alive, no big deal."Theres a smirk at that, punctuated by a chuckle as she turns away. "Oh and before I forget, give my compliments to your tailor. I think I'd have made your horns a touch bigger to make them easier to see in the low light, but it's an incredible look you've captured there. Best costume in the city I think, just consider the horns yes?"
    And with that, well she grabs onto the door to one of the apartment buildings bordering the alleyway. Theres a moment spent fiddling, and she pops the lock and slips right on through just as casual as can be. "Remember Devil, you never saw me.."and -click- that door slides shut.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
A ghost of a smile crosses Daredevil's lips. "I'm sure you could manage," he says of taking them alive. He didn't speechifying on the sactity of life was going to be the ticket here, but pride was always helpful. "Anyhow, think on it, and no more bodies in Hell's Kitchen," he warns before she slips away.

Once she's gone, he snorts a bit of a laugh about the suit, making a note to tell Melvin what she said. Though as he uses the man's burner phone to call this in to the cops, he can't help but reach a hand up to pat his horns... would bigger horns look better? Now that thought was going to linger...