"I'd be less afraid of phonin' my mother," Tim mutters only looking up when Matt gets closer to kiss him, and Tim returns it happily.
Matt heals. Though not fully before he's going out as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen again. Tim tries to talk him into getting better first, being in tip top shape before continuing his work. But too many people are getting hurt, too many innocent people are suffering, and Matt goes out anyway. And, honestly, Tim can't blame him. He'd do the same thing, if he were in that position. Hell, sometimes he is. But that doesn't mean he doesn't worry. That doesn't mean he frequently finds himself staying up to ungodly hours making sure Matt gets home okay.
It'd be one thing if it were just average crimes, muggings and rapes and assaults. There's not a doubt in Tim's mind that Matt can handle that. But this is major gangs and Wilson Fisk and Tim feels a little bit sick every time Matt goes out.
But he always comes home. Some nights are better than others. Some nights, Matt catches up enough that it makes a difference. Others, Fisk is too many steps ahead and Matt walks around with that carefully hidden, white-hot rage that shows in his knuckles and his jaw. Tim does what he can to ease it. To make things better. But there's only so much he can do, and most nights, that's patching up Matt when he finally makes it home (calling Claire for anything too serious for him to handle) and then curling up next to him and falling asleep.
Tim quits the task force. He continues staying on, just to keep an ear out for things. Give Matt a heads up when something's going down. But ultimately, he can't. He can't bring himself to stay. Besides, all Matt has to do is stand in the squad room for any length of time and listen to find out what's going on. He doesn't need Tim for that.
It's a long, hard, process, and things get terse between Tim and Matt more than once. Not because there's secrets (though both of them still find it hard to share, sometimes, and Matt won't talk about Fisk, and Tim won't talk about work, or his nightmares, or any number of things), but because things of rough. Because Matt comes home with a new bruise or cut every night, and Tim's scrubbing blood from between his fingernails after bandaging Matt's wounds, and they're both worried about each other. But they make it work, with kisses and quiet 'I love you's, and the very, very rare evening off where they curl up on the couch and, eventually, fall asleep wrapped around each other.
But eventually, Matt does it. Not without a few losses, which are each mourned as they come, but Matt takes down Wilson Fisk, turns the man over to Tim personally. There's a few near misses, in which Fisk escapes police custody, and the one person they have that can tell the truth almost gets assassinated. But Matt does it, not without getting roughed up himself, and this part, at least, is finally over. And when Matt finally gets home that night, so late that it's almost morning, Tim doesn't even let him get undressed — he pulls Matt's mask off, and stands in the living room doing nothing but kissing him for what feels like a full thirty minutes, unwilling to let go or stop or even go any further. He just wants to taste Matt's mouth and thank a God he doesn't believe in that his boyfriend is safe and sound.
It all wraps up in the nick of time, too. Because not three days later, Sadie gives Tim a call to chat, to check up on him, and find out what he plans on doing for Thanksgiving. The answer, obviously, is take a trip to Kentucky, because he hasn't been back since he moved away. But then Sadie asks, "What about that boyfriend of yours? Do I get to meet 'im?"
And the answer to that is, "I dunno. I'll talk to him."
That night, Tim gets home a little late, between a little bit of paperwork to finish up and stopping by the liquor store to refresh their bourbon and scotch supply. Matt's already home when Tim gets there (he hasn't moved in, but he also hasn't been back to his apartment for any length of time in the past month, either), and he does what he always does upon seeing his boyfriend after a long day:
He smiles, sets down whatever he's holding on the counter, and pulls Matt's attention away from what he's doing to kiss him. His way of saying hello without saying anything at all.
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Matt heals. Though not fully before he's going out as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen again. Tim tries to talk him into getting better first, being in tip top shape before continuing his work. But too many people are getting hurt, too many innocent people are suffering, and Matt goes out anyway. And, honestly, Tim can't blame him. He'd do the same thing, if he were in that position. Hell, sometimes he is. But that doesn't mean he doesn't worry. That doesn't mean he frequently finds himself staying up to ungodly hours making sure Matt gets home okay.
It'd be one thing if it were just average crimes, muggings and rapes and assaults. There's not a doubt in Tim's mind that Matt can handle that. But this is major gangs and Wilson Fisk and Tim feels a little bit sick every time Matt goes out.
But he always comes home. Some nights are better than others. Some nights, Matt catches up enough that it makes a difference. Others, Fisk is too many steps ahead and Matt walks around with that carefully hidden, white-hot rage that shows in his knuckles and his jaw. Tim does what he can to ease it. To make things better. But there's only so much he can do, and most nights, that's patching up Matt when he finally makes it home (calling Claire for anything too serious for him to handle) and then curling up next to him and falling asleep.
Tim quits the task force. He continues staying on, just to keep an ear out for things. Give Matt a heads up when something's going down. But ultimately, he can't. He can't bring himself to stay. Besides, all Matt has to do is stand in the squad room for any length of time and listen to find out what's going on. He doesn't need Tim for that.
It's a long, hard, process, and things get terse between Tim and Matt more than once. Not because there's secrets (though both of them still find it hard to share, sometimes, and Matt won't talk about Fisk, and Tim won't talk about work, or his nightmares, or any number of things), but because things of rough. Because Matt comes home with a new bruise or cut every night, and Tim's scrubbing blood from between his fingernails after bandaging Matt's wounds, and they're both worried about each other. But they make it work, with kisses and quiet 'I love you's, and the very, very rare evening off where they curl up on the couch and, eventually, fall asleep wrapped around each other.
But eventually, Matt does it. Not without a few losses, which are each mourned as they come, but Matt takes down Wilson Fisk, turns the man over to Tim personally. There's a few near misses, in which Fisk escapes police custody, and the one person they have that can tell the truth almost gets assassinated. But Matt does it, not without getting roughed up himself, and this part, at least, is finally over. And when Matt finally gets home that night, so late that it's almost morning, Tim doesn't even let him get undressed — he pulls Matt's mask off, and stands in the living room doing nothing but kissing him for what feels like a full thirty minutes, unwilling to let go or stop or even go any further. He just wants to taste Matt's mouth and thank a God he doesn't believe in that his boyfriend is safe and sound.
It all wraps up in the nick of time, too. Because not three days later, Sadie gives Tim a call to chat, to check up on him, and find out what he plans on doing for Thanksgiving. The answer, obviously, is take a trip to Kentucky, because he hasn't been back since he moved away. But then Sadie asks, "What about that boyfriend of yours? Do I get to meet 'im?"
And the answer to that is, "I dunno. I'll talk to him."
That night, Tim gets home a little late, between a little bit of paperwork to finish up and stopping by the liquor store to refresh their bourbon and scotch supply. Matt's already home when Tim gets there (he hasn't moved in, but he also hasn't been back to his apartment for any length of time in the past month, either), and he does what he always does upon seeing his boyfriend after a long day:
He smiles, sets down whatever he's holding on the counter, and pulls Matt's attention away from what he's doing to kiss him. His way of saying hello without saying anything at all.