xp_logs | With Extreme Prejudice, chapter 5 (Reply)

Daredevil saves Detective Mahoney from a vengeful partner.

"Mahoney," Daredevil growled from the shadows of an alleyway and up on the fire escape. He flipped, landing near the police officer, but still far enough away that they couldn't touch, even with their arms extended. That it was late enough to almost be called early didn't help. New York might not be the city that sleeps, but there were definitely places that dozed and this alley in Hell's Kitchen was one of them until Daredevil made it wake.

"Possibly unhinged vigilante," Mahoney replied dryly. In true police fashion he had pressed himself against the dirty wall and kept a close eye on the alley entrance to ensure no one snuck up on him. Well, no one on foot, at least. But anyone who was flipping down from the fire escape was probably someone he wouldn't win a fight with anyways. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Matt couldn't help but grin at the descriptor. Not entirely wrong. After all, it took a special sort of unhinged to put on a costume and fight crime like he did. Regular unhinged clearly wasn't enough for him. Pulling a flash drive from his pocket, he offered it to the cop, "Not enough to convict, but enough to get things started against a dirty cop," he paused for a moment, unsure how he wanted to phrase his next sentence,. "It'll look better coming from you."

Mahoney was understandably hesitant as he took the flash drive. "A dirty cop won't look good coming from anyone," he said. "Are you sure?"

"This way though, he can't take you down with him," Daredevil explained. "It's Dixon," which he knew Mahoney wouldn't want to hear. It was still the truth.

A very long moment of silence followed that. "Are you sure?" Was all Mahoney asked again.

Daredevil nodded, "You're a good cop. You do the right thing."

Mahoney sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned and paced the alley for a moment. "Right. Alright. Yeah. I'll..." He had no idea how that sentence was going to end. He knew what he had to do. There was no way this could be ignored. If there was even a possibility...

"What exactly do you know?"

"Dixon's selling weapons to hate groups, the FOH," Matt stated, "violence towards mutants has escalated and you've already seen the ripple effects of that." And while he did have a personal state in crimes against mutants, he wanted to de-escalate all crime. Especially violent ones.

Mahoney scrubbed his face, sighing. "I don't doubt you." Which was weird. It was weird that he trusted this vigilante. "Anything else before I risk tanking my career?"

"I'll make sure it's not tanked," he promised. How, he had no idea. Somehow. "I know a good lawyer if nothing else," he joked.

Mahoney snorted. "Yeah, I know one or two good ones. Not that I'd ever tell them that."

Their banter was interrupted by the buzz of Mahoney's phone. The speaker at the other end wasted no time getting to business when the detective picked up. "Mahoney, Pier 94." The staticy voice was his partner, who at the other end of the line, was pacing irritably and puffing the final millimeters of his cigarette. "Found something on this serial killer case. Gonna blow it wide open."

Mahoney gritted his teeth, letting out a long breath through his nose. "Alright. Hang tight. I'll be there soon." He hung up without another word and looked back at Daredevil. "Gotta go. Duty calls."

Letting Mahoney go, Matt disappeared back into the shadows, deciding that he would keep an eye on the cop for a while. Just in case.

Tom Dixon was standing at the edge of the pier when Mahoney arrived. They were alone, the only light from the city behind them and a couple of dim street lamps. He stood stiffly as Mahoney approached, his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. He looked tired; hair disheveled, bags under his eyes, clothes wrinkled. He must have been working all night.

"Brett, good, you got here."

"Tom," Mahoney said flatly as he approached. "You look like shit. What've you got?" He couldn't imagine what was at the pier that would crack this case wide open.

"Sorry about this, but you're just too close." There was no other warning before Dixon withdrew his gun from his pocket and shot Mahoney right in the gut, the defeaning bang interrupting the silent night. "Things've already gone to shit because of that goddamn Devil and I'll be fucked if you make 'em worse. If it makes you feel better, I never liked you, anyway."

Mahoney didn't her anything after you're just too close. His entire body went numb for the briefest moment before white-hot pain burned through his stomach and he staggered back, dropping to the damp, grimy pier.

Fuck this isn't how I want to die.

The shot rang out as Matt reached some train cars waiting to be loaded onto barges and he tried to will himself faster, launching himself at Dixon without preamble. It wouldn't take much to take him down and Matt was focused more on speed and efficiency than on not hurting him too badly. "Mahoney!" he cried, getting Dixon's gun by the simple expedite of breaking his hand. He didn't care. His voice was hoarse as he gently picked the other man so he could get to a hospital. Screw Dixon. Shoving his face into concrete until he was unconscious solved the problem of him getting up or away.

Putting pressure on the gunshot wound with one hand, Matt grabbed at Mahoney's radio with the other, "Officer down!" he called into it, knowing someone was on the other end. Giving the location, he dropped the radio and put as much pressure on the wound as he could to try to help stop the bleeding until the ambulance came. There wasn't much more he could do.

Pressure on a gun wound hurt. Mahoney made a gargled, not quite coherent sound. The world was already a bit fuzzy around the edges, and all he could see was a dark red figure with small horns hovering over him.

Not something someone wanted to see when they were sure they were dying.

He heard the ambulance coming, then the figure hovering over him disappeared. Maybe not today, then, was the last thing that passed through his mind before he passed out.

Moving to the roof, Matt made sure he stayed where no one would see him as he listened in, using his senses to make sure that Mahoney would be taken care of properly. He was a good guy. The smell of his blood and the rhythm of his heartbeat weren't thing that would leave his memory for a while though.