Daredevil wanted to leave, but it was already too late.
Swoosh!
In the next second, something cut sharply through the air.
Matt's heart clenched, and he shouted, "It's a dart! Get out of the way!"
Anxiety surged through him. If anything happened to Lance because of him, the guilt would haunt him forever. It might even leave a lasting scar on his mind.
However, he soon had no time to dwell on it.
He watched in shock as the man he had assumed to be an untrained weakling casually stepped aside, avoiding the dart. Then, with a precise and practiced motion, he kicked the projectile off its trajectory and pinned it firmly under his foot.
Lance found himself impressed again. Batman's techniques were undeniably useful.
According to No. 1's scan, there was only a single person on the other side. A woman.
In truth, she had arrived ten minutes earlier. Since she had not made a move, Lance had not paid her any attention.
A female ninja who had shown mercy to Matt.
Lance quickly pieced together her identity and extended an invitation without hesitation.
"Miss masked lady who prefers to stay hidden, would you care to sit down for a cup of tea and a chat?"
"Are you insane?" Matt muttered under his breath, incredulous. "She's not going to respond to you."
There was no reply.
Lance smiled faintly. "Why the silence? Afraid? Or just shy? Worried he might see your real face? You seem to care quite a lot about your old flame. You deliberately injured him, but chose an angle that wouldn't be fatal. You even brought him to me, and still weren't satisfied, so you stayed nearby to keep an eye on things."
He paused, then added with deliberate provocation, "Is that what you call love?"
"Hmph!"
A cold snort answered him. The figure in the shadows had clearly been provoked. Without another word, she turned and left.
Matt frowned, clearly confused.
"Wait," he said. "What are you talking about? What old flame?"
Lance shook his head dramatically. "I almost feel sorry for her. Didn't you notice? She had every opportunity to kill you, yet she only fired once and didn't follow up. She let you escape."
"That shot was aimed at my heart!"
Lance looked at him as if he were an idiot. "She's a ninja, not incompetent. If she truly wanted you dead, in this injured state, you'd already be a corpse."
Matt's thoughts were still in disarray. He had not realized that the attacker was his former lover, Elektra.
Lance had no interest in helping them reconcile. He was not that kind-hearted.
Without another word, he shoved the bandaged Daredevil out the door of the law firm.
"Go home. And bring the money tomorrow. If you're late, the fee doubles."
His tone was cold. The green door slammed shut in Matt's face.
"How heartless."
Matt rubbed his nose, then turned and headed back toward his own office.
The incident had thoroughly ruined Lance's mood for sleep. He stood by the 2nd-floor window of the law firm, gazing out at the distant night skyline.
Since he could not sleep, he had no intention of letting anyone else rest easy either.
Lance thought for a moment, then took his phone from his pocket and called his former employer, Tony Stark.
To his surprise, the call was answered almost immediately.
"Prescott?" The sound of rushing wind came from the other end. "What is it?"
"Out wandering in that suit of armor again?" Lance asked.
"Uh-huh."
"I really don't understand you." Lance leaned against the window frame. "A night like this should belong to romance, yet you leave Miss Pepper behind just to fly around aimlessly."
There was a long pause, followed by the faint sound of teeth grinding.
"Don't suddenly bring up Pepper's name while I'm trying to concentrate."
"Concentrate on what? Busy cosplaying as a meteor?"
"You really have a talent for irritating people."
The whistling figure of the armor hovered in front of the window. The silver-white faceplate slowly opened, revealing Stark's face.
His hair was windswept, and faint dark circles lingered under his eyes.
"And you?" he shot back, his voice slightly distorted. "Harassing your former employer in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
"Exactly as you see." Lance shrugged. "I'm harassing you."
He tilted his head slightly. "What about you? Had a fight with Miss Pepper?"
"…"
Stark fell silent. He was far too easy to read. Everything was written plainly across his face.
Right now, it practically spelled out: I had a big fight with my woman, I'm too embarrassed to go back and apologize, so I ran out of Stark Tower to wander around New York all night.
After a long pause, Stark finally spoke.
"To be honest, I'm under a bit of pressure lately. Not just because of Pepper. There are other things too."
"For example?"
Stark hesitated again.
"Fine. Keep up the mysterious billionaire act. With that kind of brooding energy, new girlfriends will be lining up soon. Though I imagine they'll be more interested in your money and your armor."
"Only you would be interested in my armor," Stark replied. The image of having a new girlfriend flashed through his mind, and he instinctively shook his head.
"No. I don't want a new girlfriend."
"Then what do you want? Stay with Pepper and get married?"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Stark choked violently. "Marriage? Pepper? Wait. Aren't there several very important steps missing in between?"
"Are there?" Lance looked him up and down, nodding thoughtfully. "True. For a man like you, certain things probably matter more. One-night stands, or perhaps many-night stands."
"That's not what I meant!" Stark flailed his arms exaggeratedly, then fell silent again.
"My father…" he said suddenly, his voice low. "I've realized that what he left me is far more than I thought."
"Things have quieted down in Congress for now, but the military is still applying pressure. And S.H.I.E.L.D. wants me to join something called the Avengers Initiative."
He curled his lip. "Pepper thinks I should focus on transitioning Stark Industries instead of flying around in armor all day."
"So you're torn," Lance said calmly, "between being Tony Stark and being Iron Man."
"I'm not torn," Stark replied, though the conviction in his voice was weak.
"You are."
Lance extended a cup of coffee out the window. "Take it."
He poured one for himself as well. "What your father left you was never a choice between one or the other. What he left you was the right to choose. You can be both, or you can be neither. But the important thing is…"
He paused, meeting Stark's eyes, speaking each word with deliberate clarity.
"That it's your choice. Not his, not the military's, not S.H.I.E.L.D.'s, and not even Pepper's."
"What if I choose wrong?" Stark asked.
"Then change it. You're Tony Stark. You have money, you have technology, you have armor, and…"
"A very expensive lawyer," Lance added dryly. "What exactly are you afraid of?"
Stark fell silent once more. He took the cup and sipped the coffee.
"It tastes terrible."
He gave his verdict.
Lance rolled his eyes.
___
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