A/N: Crossover with Daredevil, slight crossover with Batman/Superman related things. It explains everything though, so I don’t discourage non-Superhero fans from reading.

Guardian Devil; Falling Angel

By RRP

Prologue


The explosion threw the sole occupant of the building up against the hard brick wall of the next building with a force that shook the bricks he landed on. His head echoed against the pavement with a hollow thump, the irises sealed forever just seconds before by the mind-shattering blast of flame. The building continued to burn with a life and mind of it’s own, scarring some regions while leaving others untouched in a seemingly pattern less trail.

The figure, a young man no more than twenty-seven, made no move to crawl away- he was silent, still, and barely breathing. With the few untainted breaths that slipped past his lips came moans, wordless cries for help. There was no immediate response that one could see. But on the other side of the building, across the flames and the burning rubble, were two people- both searching for the one.

A tall man with lightly tanned skin, and dark hair. His deep black trench coat flared out behind him, catching the wind as he ran. His hair brushed his face, heated blasts from the building whipping it about his chin and finding it’s way into his open mouth. When the day had started, it was brushed back and styled with gel- now his hair wasn’t even an afterthought. It could have very well fallen away without him taking more than half a second’s notice.

The other was a lady, stern and proud, with small curved lines about the edges of her eyes that portrayed the sadness and pain she tried so hard to hide. Her finely sculpted leather suit shaped to her body, giving the beholder the idea that she was born with the sleek pants and small jacket as skin. Together, the two searchers opened their mouths as one, calling one name, finding the same answer- silence.

“Ethan!”

Disclaimer: Don’t own them.

A/N: I’m using HTML Coding Formats. [dd] is the beginning of a DareDevil/Matt Murdock POV. [/dd] is the end of one. In this same style: [e][/e] for Ethan; [j][/j] for Jarod; [mp][/mp] for Miss Parker. Please enjoy! Ari, please don’t kill me. I’m far too young to die. That goes for you, J-Rod!

Chapter One: Who I Am (Leave Me Alone)

By RRP

[dd]

I am the one they call, ‘the blind lawyer’. I never leave a case unturned, and my sense of justice impresses even those I don’t wish to impress. Many times, I’ve been heard to threaten those who’ve walked away- with nothing more than, “You’ll wish you had gotten your justice here”. I instill fear, and I revel in that fact.

I wish I could tell you I’ve always been the innocent one, but I can’t. Not without lying. For all my sense of justice, for all my talk of right, I have killed. I have murdered, and I know that I was wrong. By my own misguided vengeance, others have fallen. And fallen hard.

By day, I go by Matt Murdock. By night? I’m the one they call DareDevil. The guardian devil of Hell’s Kitchen- or at least, I usually am. I’ve run into a couple big shots here and there, and I think I may have been straightened out once or twice. I’m supposed to protect my city, not my favorite part of it.

The first day I met the first two, I was pretty upset with them at first (a lot of firsts, eh?). Here, I’ve been taking care of my city, my area of the city, for four years. Four long years. And then these two show up, taking me down like it’s a simple workout for them. I’ve fought what I thought was the best- and barely survived. These two make me look like playground stuff.

So, I was on the ground, breathing hard, and the two of them were just standing there looking at me. One offered his hand, and I refused the help. I was up, on my own, and they started talking. One of them, he said he’s from Metropolis, and I’ve heard of him. Superman he calls himself. The other? Gothamite. All the way. Said he’s the Batman. They’ve heard of my, let me say, unusual methods, and they wanted me to cut the crap and start dealing fair. I was sorely tempted to ask them what fair means, and the Batman corrected Superman.

Not fair, he explained- just sane. Human. Let the police, the system, do them justice. It’s just our job to make sure the little guys don’t get hurt. We can’t snap ourselves, stoop to their level. They were treating me like a rookie, and I wasn’t digging it. So I told them to stop- I don’t need advice. And then I asked how long they’ve been pulling the vigilante gig. I couldn’t wait for one of them to tell me about a year or two, so I could straighten them out.

“Nine years.” Said Superman. Batman added his score. It was eleven. I start to think that maybe I am a bit of a rookie, to them anyway. But I agreed on some certain terms to stop killing- I already had, really. I wasn’t getting kicks out of it. They left, I’ve only seen them once or twice since.

But to the beginning- do you have any idea how frightening it is to wake up and not be able to see? At all? It’s pretty damn scary. Even for someone like me.

[/dd][e]

The sound was what woke me up- the overpowering, over heightened sense of sound. I woke up all right, and I woke up screaming. For all the stuff I’ve seen and done, I’d never been so freaked out in my life. Even Raines didn’t scare me like that first moment did. Every thing was pulsating, reverberating, and I couldn’t make it stop. And the worst part was, was I couldn’t see a thing. A blue haze seemed to be covering everything, only appearing with the pulse of sound, then disappearing into blackness. Something was on my eyes, and I couldn’t get it off.

I remember clawing frantically at my eyes, and finding white gauze tape there. I gave up trying to get it off, and just screamed. I wasn’t even aware that I was flailing my arms until I felt someone grab them. The sound, the awful sound, wouldn’t stop. I heard, more than heard, I felt, a familiar voice. I knew the voice as Jarod, but my body refused to listen to me. I couldn’t stop panicking. My mind was confused beyond belief, questions pouring through my head, dripping off my thoughts like water on oil. The sound was overwhelming, and the fact that I couldn’t see even worse.

I was sobbing like a baby, the gauze tape soaking up the unbidden tears, and I finally stopped jerking around to crawl into a ball. I wanted to get away, I needed to get away. I wanted it all to be a dream. The fear was so real and desperate that there were seconds when I couldn’t breathe. As soon as I stopped struggling, I felt myself be pulled into warm, strong arms. Jarod. My big brother.

I clung to him shamelessly, unable to even hold a coherent thought about any subject except my sight for more than two seconds. I swear he was crying with me. I could hear him crying, I could hear his heart beat. I could hear his tears hitting the hard floor and bouncing.

“I can’t see.” I told him between a sob. I barely managed to speak at all.

“I know, I know.” He replied, rocking me back and forth. He knew. He knew and that’s when it hit me so hard it made me want to scream again. I hit him, and propelled myself across the room, using my feet and his chest for leverage. I heard the machines squeal and I heard rather than felt the IV needle snap in my arm. I could hear everything. I heard Jarod slam against the wall with a pained gasp, as I made contact with the opposite wall myself.

I sank into the corner, sobbing again. The blue pulse allowed me to grasp the outlined image of some items, but not many. My heart was racing, and the blood from the ripped IV needle was all over my hands and the floor. I could feel it, the sticky substance invading my sense of touch and smell. It reeked of life, dark staining life. And I hated it. I wanted it to be dead. I wanted to be dead. I couldn’t think of more than one short phrase, and it raced through my head with such speed I thought my skull would crack with it’s incessant pounding.

I’m blind, good god, I’m blind...

[/e][j]

The wiring had caught fire at the worst possible time, and committed a crime I could never forgive it for. One might ask how you could blame a fire, and my answer would be that I have no idea. No idea at all. But I do know that I blame it, and never again will I enjoy the warmth of a fireplace with a crackling fire, or a bonfire with marshmallows. Not after what it did to my little brother. Our little brother.

Miss Parker’s been pacing ever since they rushed him into the hospital on a gurney stained with blood. In the waiting room, in the hotel room, everywhere. She yelled so much at her father on the phone, that I think he was just shocked enough to let me stay in peace. But she paces ever on, thankfully I’ve managed to keep her away from alcohol and cigarettes.

And I pace with her. We both feel helpless, and it’s a feeling I know we both hate. The doctors said there was nothing left for us to do but wait for him to wake up. And now that he has, I almost wish he had stayed asleep. He’s asleep again now, faced with the daunting prospect of learning to live- blind.

He’s blind. My baby brother, Ethan, who I promised to his face that I would protect, is blind. Irreversibly and unmistakably blind. I can do nothing about it, and neither can she. She cares about him, I can tell. That little glint in her eye when she talks about him. I’ve seen it, and so has Sydney. I’ve asked him.

Lyle’s been here to see him, and he did nothing more than glare at me and look at Ethan’s sleeping form with an emotion I didn’t imagine he possessed- pity. Then he left, and even Miss Parker hasn’t heard anything from him since. Miss Parker stays close to the hospital, but refuses to go into Ethan’s room. It’s as if she’s scared of what she’ll find.

Ethan is unscarred, the doctors say. Unscarred by flame- there is no burn anywhere on his body. Some cuts, but those will heal. I laugh mournfully at their description of him. Unscarred? He’s blind, for heavensake. If that’s not scarred, I don’t know what is. I can think of at least a dozen more adjectives for it off the top of my head, and I’m not even the real victim. Ethan is.

I was going to sim it, waking up and not being able to see, but Miss Parker stopped me. I’m almost glad she did, now that I’ve seen Ethan’s reaction. I might have hurt her while trying to get back. How am I going to live with this? How is he going to live with it? Will he let me help him? The suspense is killing me, but it’s like a mystery I don’t want to solve. I’m afraid I won’t be able to live with the outcome. I don’t know if any of us will. For once, it’s not a pretend. And everything’s not going to be okay.

[/j][mp]

It all happened so fast, so breathtakingly fast that I’m forever stuck replaying those fateful second long clips over in my mind. Jumbled together, until I’m not sure the order is even correct. The explosion, the blast, watching the warehouse blow sky high. Then, his body. Finding my little brother’s tattered, limp form on the other side of the wreckage. The ambulance and the hospital, the doctors telling Jarod and I that Ethan’s never going to see again.

He’s blind. My brother is blind. It’s my fault, somehow, somehow it’s always my fault. Jarod says it’s not, but it is. Somehow it is. It will be. If I can’t find a way, Ethan will. People’s minds are sharpest when they’re hurt- I know this from experience.

I’m lost to the void, lost in my thoughts, fearful of what could happen next. I’m sure I’ve already worn a hole in the hotel carpet with my pacing, but I can’t seem to stop. The Ice Queen Parker remains on the outside, telling everyone she’s alright, she’ll live, and that everything’s okay. Only Jarod has seen past my facade so far. Only Jarod.

Ethan would be next, if he was awake. If he could see. But Ethan’s the reason I’m here, his condition the reason I’m allowing myself to lean on Jarod again. Jarod. Ethan’s his brother as well, and I know he’s got to be blaming himself just as much as I’m blaming me. I just can’t stop.

There has to be some way for it to be my fault, some way. I’d rather this be my fault than some freak accident. If it was my fault, then the Centre would be some way connected, opposed to the entire thing, Ethan’s blindness, being some chance happening. The problem with this being a freak accident is that it would mean that not only was my little brother a victim- he was a statistic.

With no one to blame, the pain must blame itself. If Ethan can’t blame me, he’ll blame himself and it’ll tear him apart. I can’t stand to watch my little brother lose himself as well as his sight. I couldn’t do it. It would kill me, as well as him. So I can’t just stand by.

[/mp]

A/N: A bit longer, each POV is this time. Read away!

Chapter Two: Come Sweet Silence, Darkness Fall Away

By RRP


[dd]

At night, I patrol the streets. The darkness doesn’t bother me. It wouldn’t, right? Yeah, I’m the blind guy, remember? So I patrol the streets and stop the bad guys, all for the sake of justice. Tonight, it’s quiet for once, giving my ears a much needed break and my mind a chance to wander.

It happened when I was eleven- I lost my vision. I woke up in the hospital more scared than I’d ever been in my life. The choking fear, followed my the sickening realization that I couldn’t see. But I became, and I quote, the boy without fear. I explored the city while I explored my limits, testing myself, pushing myself. I found out there were many limits to meet. I had almost none.

I lost my Dad, and nearly lost my soul. Justice was my vow, my ultimate goal. With help, I designed a suit, stick-staves, and other smaller gadgets. A water-filled, sound-proofed bed formed like a coffin. To Darkness, In Darkness, From Darkness.

Hold on, someone’s up here with me. Just landed. Landed? Woah. ‘Land’ implies ‘fly’ in my case, since I’m on top of a building. I whirl around with my staff ready, and the intruder stops me with one word.

“Wait.” It’s the Batman. I’ve only heard him speak a few times, but you don’t forget a voice like that. He has this unique, deep, rasp, and I could swear it was forced- a disguise of his true voice. Clever. Yet familiar. I’ve heard it before. In someone else. I lean on the staff, trying to look nonchalant, but still on the alert within.

“Come to ask me a favor?” I ask sarcastically.

“Yes.” Okay, I was not expecting that. I’ve talked to the Supes guy a few more times, and from what I gather, Batman isn’t exactly the world’s most open vigilante. He’s the guy everyone knows as a ‘I’ll do it myself’ man. And now he’s asking the blind man for help. If he didn’t sound so serious, I might try to joke about it.

“I’m listening.” I offer instead. He sighs, and steps towards me. I hear his cape swirl around his feet.

“A friend of mine, his little brother- a young man about twenty-seven- was in an explosion just a week ago.”

“And you want me to catch the culprit? Hate to burst your bubble, Bats, but I can’t exactly go over crime scene photos.”

“Will you shut up for a minute?” He demands. Boy. He sounds upset. And that rasp is bugging me. “No, I don’t want you to catch the culprit. It was a freak accident. But his little brother is blind now.” Ouch. Not a good feeling, this I know. The Batman continues. “Go in, as Matt Murdock-” Okay, how did he know my name? Not good!

“How do you know my name?”

“So it is your name?” He sounds a bit amused. “I wasn’t sure until just now. That was a lucky guess.” Ooh. Smart, is he. I’ll have to watch him with that from now on.

“But go in, help him. He’s got potential.”

“Potential? Listen, Bats, he’s not much younger than me and I’m not looking for a protege yet.”

“I know, neither was I. Long story, don’t ask. But he needs help, and you can give it to him.”

“Blind leading the blind? You really think that’s intelligent?” I can’t help but ask. His response will be good. He’s fun to ‘play’ with.

“In normal cases, no. In yours, yes. I seem to remember a certain billionaire who you saved once, and he wasn’t even the blind one.” The rasp! It all makes sense!

“You’re Bruce Wayne?”

“Congratulations. You’re only the second justice swinging man in a mask that’s figured it out.”

“Who’s the first?”

“Superman.” I should have known. Okay, I might as well accept this ‘task’. Couldn’t hurt. Might be good for me. I should probably get the details though.

“This friend. Does he know you as Wayne or the Cape?”

“Both.”

“But you just-”

“He doesn’t wear a mask. Not like ours, anyway.” This guy is sharp. Very sharp. And he likes to play with words. I hear a crackle coming from his direction- sounds like a radio, and the cape shifts.

“Oracle to Batman. Need you back ASAP. Hatter loose, Nightwing’s having some card trouble.” It’s coming from his mask. I can tell that much. Pretty nifty little instrument.

“I’ll be there, Oracle. Batman out.” I’m here all alone, and it sounds like he’s got an entire network of cape and cowl heroes.

“Who was-”

“Important. Maybe we can have tea and talk about it later.” He’s still got that hint of amusement in his voice, and I can’t tell if he’s serious or joking. Now I know how Bullseye felt when I made him miss. “Come by the Manor sometime. As Matt. Maybe I’ll even show you the ‘Cave.” Go with the flow, Murdock. Don’t let him know you haven’t a clue what the ‘Cave is. “Here.” He hands me a piece of paper. “The address and names.”

“I can’t read normal-” He really likes cutting me off. I think he actually enjoys it.

“It’s Braille.” The Batman replies. “I know. The information should be correct. I checked it myself.”

“You read Braille?” Why am I not surprised? Hmm?

“Yes. I’ve got to go. Stay safe, kid. Don’t tell Superman, but,” He lowers his voice to a whisper, but he doesn’t take a step towards me. He’s got me all figured out, and that’s a scary thought. “I admire you. You’re one pretty brave guy.” I don’t know why I feel all warm and gooey inside, and why my chest feels big all of the sudden. I just get the faint feeling he doesn’t tell many people, if any, that. I suddenly feel really special. In a good way. I open my mouth to say something else, and I realize he’s gone. Just like that. Gone. Now I’m really freaked out. Why?

I can hear someone’s heart beating in a courtroom- and I didn’t hear this guy leave the roof. Oh, man. He’s really good.

[/dd][e]

It’s been four days now. Four days of darkness and noise. I hear everything. I can’t sleep at night the sound is so bad. Jarod says someone in coming in to talk to me, but I don’t want to talk to someone else. Every one wants to talk to me, and no one knows how I feel. I’m alone, as usual, back to the beginning. Alone. Except this time it’s worse.

The tapping of a stick against the cold floor I now know to be the floor of a hospital. The door to my room opens, and the tapping continues. I hear another person, probably Jarod, stop at the door. The door swings shut with a echoing click. Whoever has the stick, whoever it is that’s in the room with me, locks the door and the click resonates throughout the room.

“Ethan.” A voice announces. I can almost feel him looking at me, pitying me. I hate it. “I’m Matt Murdock, and we’ve got some stuff to talk about.” I hear a whirring sound, and the blue pulse allows me to see but the briefest flash of slender rod. The stick cracks against my shoulder with a painful pop. I yell, a wordless yell, partially because of anger and partially because I’m scared senseless. Not only am I blind, but this crazed lunatic is in here with me, and the door is locked.

“What was that for?” I demand, trying to stay in control, on top of things.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” Mr. Matt Murdock the Man asks in reply. He sounds so sure of himself.

“Stop you?” I’m astounded. Doesn’t he see the white gauze tape on my eyes? “I’m blind, you idiot.”

“Your point?” My point? What’s his point? Good Lord! I’m the blind person here, who does he think he is to whack me with his stick?

“I can’t see what your doing.” I explain. Maybe I should try to stay on his good side. Although, my explanation did have a twang of anger in it. I’ve got my rights.

“You’ve got to stop underestimating yourself.” He tells me gently. He pats my leg, and I wordlessly swing my legs over the side of the bed. He sits down next to me. “I know, you think no one else knows how you feel. Right?” Did they bring him in from the Centre? Does he read minds or something? “You can call me Matt. I’m going to be your teacher for a while. But more importantly, I’d like to be your friend.”

“You some kind of doctor?” I ask suspiciously.

“Nope. My dad said I could be a doctor, or a lawyer, but after the accident, everyone involved said lawyer would be better.”

“Accident?”

“Yeah. Ethan, you and I are in the same lousy, leaky boat. We’re underestimated, far too pitied, and must be co-dependant anyway.” Okay, I’m not Jarod’s brother for nothing. Think Ethan. Think. The voices are back- or at least her voice, and she’s telling me to trust this guy. Then, I understand.

“You’re blind.” I state, somewhat tactlessly. He laughs, and nods.

“You do catch on fast.”

“So what exactly are you going to teach me?” I can’t help but ask. I’m curious now. How does one blind man teach another? If the situation wasn’t so dire, I’d laugh. It’s the cliche to end all cliches.

“What do you want to learn?” Matt asks me. Things, ideas, are flooding into my head. Things I want to know, understand, learn. And I have the feeling Matt’s not going to look down on me for asking questions, unlike some certain doctors I know.

“Everything!” I burst out. I think I’m smiling for the first time since It happened. “How to read in Braille, how to use a guide staff, everything you know how to do!”

“That’s going to take a while.” He chuckles. “And I’m not sure you want to know everything. But we can start with the staff.” I hear him opening his coat, and pulling something out. “I brought an extra for you.”

“And the sound.” I add, as he hands me the staff. I run my hands over it, feeling the welcome coolness of the handle. “The blue sound. How does that work?” He freezes. I hear him stop. I think I surprised him.

“You hear it too?” He asks, surprised. I suddenly think that the blue pulse may not be normal for a blind person. Matt clears his throat, and sighs. “Maybe I should explain a few things first, then.”

[/e][j]

Matt Murdock arrived this morning, and he went straight into Ethan’s room. He locked the door, and neither of them have come out since. I’ve heard nothing from them at all, and I’m starting to worry. I really hope Bruce Wayne knew what he was doing when he suggested that I let this guy talk to my little brother.

I met Bruce through a Pretend I was doing in Gotham. My case included a Grade A Psychopath known as the ‘Joker’. I was hot on his trail, almost had him, when I arrived at a pier. The legendary Bat of Gotham was already there, and I couldn’t figure him out. He seemed to be a step ahead of me the whole time, and even one of the people I was working with, a guy named James Gordon, claimed to know him to some extent. They even had a signal for him up on the roof of the police building.

I jokingly asked at one point if the Batman really needed a nightlight, and I think I about lost my head. That one Spanish girl, Detective Montoya, can get really angry when provoked. Crispus Allen looked at me like I was insane, and Harvey Bullock met me outside on the street. For all his talk of being a non-Batfan, he was pretty defensive. I got the whole, ‘bat’s saved my ass, he’s a part of this city no one can afford to lose’ thing. You would have thought he was on the payroll or something.

But back to the pier- the Joker and the Batman were shooting word barbs at each other while they fought. You would think it was a yearly event. Turns out, it pretty much was. But he caught the Joker by force, and the police canned him without question. It’s the first time an entire Pretend’s ‘Confession Plan’ has had to go to scratch. I didn’t even get to use it. And after watching them, it’s probably a good thing. I don’t think I was mentally or physically prepared for what the Joker really was. Batman, however, he was ready.

So I followed the ‘Bat’ back to his ‘cave’ and broke in. No small task. That place is literally tougher to get into than the Pentagon, and it’s wired like Fort Knox. And I’m not joking- I’ve gotten into both Knox and the Pentagon before. I barely managed to get in alive, and he was already waiting for me inside. He knew who I was, and for once I truly didn’t have the upper hand.

I discovered, through simple deduction measures, that the elusive Batman was none other than Bruce Wayne. He also knew about me. Jarod With-No-Known-Last-Name. My Pretender skills (he said his fifteen year old sidekick had hacked the Centre site for him, since little Tim was bored. The kid had only single-handedly stopped a bank robbery that night, and he didn’t have anything else to do).

So, instead of confronting him or the Joker as planned, I was invited upstairs to have coffee with Wayne. And now, I’m trusting the Batman and his taste in friends, one friend in particular, with the well-being of my little brother. I hope I’m not off on this, because if I am, Ethan will have to pay.

[/j][mp]

Jarod someone knows Bruce Wayne, typical of him. I should have expected him to know someone like Wayne. And Wayne someone knows this blind guy, Matt Murdock. Kind of cute, really, but one of the last things on my mind is his scale of hotness. He’s helping Ethan, or so he says. Blind leading the blind. It’s too cliche for me.

Jarod seems to trust him, and Wayne, reasonably well, so I’m just in for the ride. I’m like the backseat passenger in a car ride- the driver and his navigator say they know where they’re going, and I just have to sit back and watch the scenery fly by. Not fun.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. Ethan called us, he called us in, to tell us he’d found something. I don’t know what it was- I’m not even sure he remembers now. Jarod and I arrived at the same time, and we were both so interested in getting something from our past that I barely even got my gun out. We were arguing about showing up at the same place, when the building exploded. Somehow, we both knew Ethan had been inside or close to it.

They’re saying the building was just an old warehouse, full of flammable, rotting fiberglass and some other abandoned hazardous materials. A couple ancient wires short-circuited on each other- probably when Ethan tried to turn a light on. The fire started, which he probably saw. That’s why he was outside- he was leaving the building, when some of those previously mentioned hazardous materials sparked with the fiberglass and ran the entire wall system, igniting at the same time.

Somewhere in that time frame, Ethan stopped to look at something, or turned to look at something, and caught the light of an explosion full in the face. It seared the inner part of his eye, and the rest of the story is currently obvious.

Now Jarod and I are playing friends for the sake of the hospital staff, a man I don’t even know is ‘teaching’ my little brother, and I’ve got nothing to do. And now Jarod’s walking towards me, looking down at the floor. He reaches me, sits down, and sighs.

“Want something to eat?” Jarod asks, sounding a tiny bit hungry himself. I am, but just slightly. So I nod. “How about we go to a restaurant then? I’m tired of cafeteria food.” I nod again, and stand up. Nothing better to do here. It’s not like Ethan’s going to come out and-woah. Is that Ethan? Walking towards us with a staff and Matt Murdock and ohmygod. He’s smiling. Ethan is smiling. It’s a small smile, but it’s a smile. The gauze tape is gone, and in it’s place are a pair of rather nice, expensive looking sunglasses. He’s also dressed in something other than the hospital gown- some jeans and a nice shirt.

“Can we come?” Matt Murdock asks, giving us this little grin. Almost an ‘I told you so’ smirk. Almost.

“Let me sign Ethan out.” Jarod says stiffly, in disbelief, forcing each word. Ethan taps the stick on the ground, waving it back and forth, looking for the wall I suppose. He finds a chair, and sits down. I should probably offer to help him. I really should, but I’m just too shocked.

“See, Matt?” Ethan’s smile grows a little. “I told you they wouldn’t be too helpful.” So he doesn’t want me to help him. That figures. That really figures.

Jarod comes back, and we go. I’m at Ethan’s elbow the whole time, not touching but hovering. I’m scared to death for him, and I don’t know why. He seems okay, in control, but I’m not sure about this whole thing. Down the sidewalk, we do get a few stares (two blind men walking next to each other, come on), but Ethan and Matt seem not to notice or mind. Matt does save Jarod from walking in front of a speeding car, and I suddenly realize this is one unique blind man. This is the guy you’d trust on the cliff when everyone else was getting height sickness.

Ethan does struggle a little bit, but Matt keeps assuring him- not us- that it’ll be okay and that it’s normal to be a bit uncomfortable and tipsy the first few weeks. We get more looks in the restaurant, but I’m not minding by now either. I don’t mind because my attention is elsewhere. I’m seeing something I never thought I’d see again. Ethan is smiling. And it’s lighting up my whole world.

[/mp]