Danny can tell that Bruce is just being polite, and isn’t thrilled to be babysat by someone he doesn’t know. He appreciates the fact that he’s trying to make conversation, though, rather than just ignoring him completely, as so many often have.
“Oh, Jessica’s one of my best friends.”
The older man’s brow furrows. He probably picked the wrong member of the Defenders to make that claim about, but Danny intends to stand beside it. “Jessica? Really?”
“Well. Probably more for me than it is for her.” He pauses. “I don’t really have a lot of friends.”
Bruce smirks almost knowingly at that. “Really? The CEO of Rand Industries is lacking friends?”
Danny can’t help but raise an eyebrow in return. “Some could say the same for the CEO of Wayne Enterprises.” Bruce has always struck him as a man apart, someone who could charm in the moment, but didn’t let people get too far past the surface. That kind of distance has never been Danny’s strong suit.
He’s a heart on his sleeve kind of guy.
“Touche. So, how did you and Jessica become friends?”
“We worked together on a big project.” To take out the Hand, which Jessica had gotten reluctantly pulled into. But Danny likes to think they really bonded, and that most of Jessica’s surly exterior is just Jessica being Jessica. “Fortunately, we were successful.”
“Was that the one that ended in the collapse of Midland Circle?”
Danny’s eyes narrow. He has a feeling that Jessica doesn’t give that information out to just anyone, and he shifts in his chair to reassess the man in front of him. Maybe they have a lot more in common than he thinks.
“Maybe.”
Bruce looks dubious. “‘Maybe’ may as well be a yes. You realize that, right?”
“Yes, my lawyer has tried to impress that upon me several times.” Danny smirks. “It hasn’t really stuck yet.” Bruce shakes his head, and Danny leans back in his seat again. “You know, I’ve always looked up to you. It’s always really admirable to find something who’s built something good out of our … situation.”
“Being really rich?”
“Being orphaned.”
Bruce’s confusion melts away to a look of understanding. “Right. The plane crash.”
Danny nods, drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair. “I’m not on your level. At least not yet. My life kind of … curveballed into something bigger. But I’m trying to get Rand back to where it was supposed to be. Somewhere that my parents would be proud of—or, at least, I hope they would.”
“I think you’re doing just fine for only having been back from the dead for a year and change.” Bruce nods with a small smile. “You’ve been making more of an impact than you think.”
Danny can’t help but smile at that—Jessica isn’t wrong that he has the disposition of a golden retriever. “So, are you and Jessica close?”
It’s Bruce’s turn to seem awkward, reaching one hand up to rub the back of his neck. “Define close.”
Danny smirks. “I know Jess isn’t really the type to let people get super close. But I also don’t get calls from her all that often asking that I come in and help protect someone. Seems like she thought you were pretty important.”
“Why? Because you’re that skilled?”
“No, because I’m usually a last resort.” He grins. “If she thinks she can manage on her own or doesn’t care enough, she usually finds another way before she has to call me. But seems like she thought you needed someone with a special set of skills.”
Bruce tips his head back as he considers. “I don’t know if it’s what you would call close. But she is important to me.”
“Good,” Danny nods. “She needs people like that in her life.” But before he can say anything else, the door opens and someone wearing nurse’s scrubs walks into the room.
“Just checking in, Mr. Wayne.” The man is tall, and somewhat rugged looking, with a scar that cuts down the side of his face and some interesting tattoos poking out from under his scrubs.
“Who are you?” Danny asks, not rising to his feet yet, but all his muscles tensing in preparation.
He turns and points to the haphazardly nametag pinned to his chest. “I’m Nurse Walters.” He then moves towards Bruce and Danny interrupts again.
“Claire Temple is the only nurse who’s supposed to be covering this room.”
“She just clocked out for the day. I’m handling the night shift.”
“Yeah, she would have told us.” Danny fully gets to his feet now. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“I just have to distribute his evening meds.”
“And I’m saying it could wait until Nurse Temple gets back.” Danny reaches into his pocket as he moves closer to pull out his phone. “In fact, I’m going to call her—” Before he can get his phone out of his pocket, the nurse’s hand is on his wrist and the other is forming a fist. Danny sets his jaw before looking up at the other man again. “You really don’t want to do that.”
“You don’t want to make that phone call.”
“Let go of me. I won’t ask you again.”
“What’re you gonna do, rich boy? Sue me?”
At that, Danny grins before launching into action. The hand in his pocket comes out and twists around to grab the wrist of the man holding him, twisting it around and pulling his shoulder into an awkward position, so Danny can lift his free arm and swing across, catching the nurse across the chin. The man stumbles backwards, surprised, before cracking his knuckles and launching himself towards Danny again.
What happens next is a blur of fast movement and slow blunders. It’s clear that when he throws a punch, he puts a lot of power behind it, but unfortunately Danny is faster, so not only do the blows rarely hit, but they throw him off his balance. He’s clearly a man who’s used to distance fighting, and that alone puts him at a disadvantage.
Eventually, though, he backs Danny into a corner, crowding him against the far wall. Danny pushes him backwards with a few well-timed punches, but he can’t seem to give himself quite enough distance. He’s briefly contemplating summoning his fist—it didn’t seem necessary at first, but now he’s lost the upper hand.
“Hey, Danny.”
He looks up, and Bruce isn’t in the bed anymore. He’s worked himself into a standing position, one hand braced across his side. Danny must look confused, and so does the nurse, who turns and is looking ready to turn on Bruce instead, the person he actually came for. Bruce squares up and quickly catches him by the throat.
“Duck.”
Danny blinks, as Bruce lands a few solid blows, forcing the nurse back towards the window. He then catches on, and just as Bruce rears back to land a kick to the gut of the nurse, Danny ducks, sending the nurse through the window in a shattering of glass, tumbling down onto the street below.
Right at the feet of Jessica Jones. Jessica looks down at the body, then up to the window as two men Danny doesn’t recognize join her on the sidewalk. He gives her a small wave in return, and she shakes her head. From the shaking of her shoulders, she might be laughing, though. He’ll take it as a win.
“Looks like Jessica’s got—” His voice cuts off as he turns back to Bruce, and he frowns. As skillful as that team up was, he can see the smear of red flooding the front of Bruce’s gown. “—Uh-oh.”
Bruce grimaces. “I think I ripped my stitches.”
The door blows open again, and this time it is the correct nurse, Claire Temple, looking between the two of them with a somewhat exasperated look on her face. Her eyes dart from the now broken window to Danny to Bruce, and she moves towards her patient with a heavy sigh.
“I swear, you’re just as bad as Daredevil.”
Bruce raises an eyebrow before tipping back and letting her do her job. “Everybody knows Daredevil but me.”
“I wouldn’t take it personally,” Danny replies. “He’s a deeply mistrusting person.”
Bruce chuckles before shaking his head. “Yeah. I can relate.”
brass knife sinks into my shoulder | marvel cinematic universe/dc extended universe | 1,404
“So how do you know Jessica?”
Danny can tell that Bruce is just being polite, and isn’t thrilled to be babysat by someone he doesn’t know. He appreciates the fact that he’s trying to make conversation, though, rather than just ignoring him completely, as so many often have.
“Oh, Jessica’s one of my best friends.”
The older man’s brow furrows. He probably picked the wrong member of the Defenders to make that claim about, but Danny intends to stand beside it. “Jessica? Really?”
“Well. Probably more for me than it is for her.” He pauses. “I don’t really have a lot of friends.”
Bruce smirks almost knowingly at that. “Really? The CEO of Rand Industries is lacking friends?”
Danny can’t help but raise an eyebrow in return. “Some could say the same for the CEO of Wayne Enterprises.” Bruce has always struck him as a man apart, someone who could charm in the moment, but didn’t let people get too far past the surface. That kind of distance has never been Danny’s strong suit.
He’s a heart on his sleeve kind of guy.
“Touche. So, how did you and Jessica become friends?”
“We worked together on a big project.” To take out the Hand, which Jessica had gotten reluctantly pulled into. But Danny likes to think they really bonded, and that most of Jessica’s surly exterior is just Jessica being Jessica. “Fortunately, we were successful.”
“Was that the one that ended in the collapse of Midland Circle?”
Danny’s eyes narrow. He has a feeling that Jessica doesn’t give that information out to just anyone, and he shifts in his chair to reassess the man in front of him. Maybe they have a lot more in common than he thinks.
“Maybe.”
Bruce looks dubious. “‘Maybe’ may as well be a yes. You realize that, right?”
“Yes, my lawyer has tried to impress that upon me several times.” Danny smirks. “It hasn’t really stuck yet.” Bruce shakes his head, and Danny leans back in his seat again. “You know, I’ve always looked up to you. It’s always really admirable to find something who’s built something good out of our … situation.”
“Being really rich?”
“Being orphaned.”
Bruce’s confusion melts away to a look of understanding. “Right. The plane crash.”
Danny nods, drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair. “I’m not on your level. At least not yet. My life kind of … curveballed into something bigger. But I’m trying to get Rand back to where it was supposed to be. Somewhere that my parents would be proud of—or, at least, I hope they would.”
“I think you’re doing just fine for only having been back from the dead for a year and change.” Bruce nods with a small smile. “You’ve been making more of an impact than you think.”
Danny can’t help but smile at that—Jessica isn’t wrong that he has the disposition of a golden retriever. “So, are you and Jessica close?”
It’s Bruce’s turn to seem awkward, reaching one hand up to rub the back of his neck. “Define close.”
Danny smirks. “I know Jess isn’t really the type to let people get super close. But I also don’t get calls from her all that often asking that I come in and help protect someone. Seems like she thought you were pretty important.”
“Why? Because you’re that skilled?”
“No, because I’m usually a last resort.” He grins. “If she thinks she can manage on her own or doesn’t care enough, she usually finds another way before she has to call me. But seems like she thought you needed someone with a special set of skills.”
Bruce tips his head back as he considers. “I don’t know if it’s what you would call close. But she is important to me.”
“Good,” Danny nods. “She needs people like that in her life.” But before he can say anything else, the door opens and someone wearing nurse’s scrubs walks into the room.
“Just checking in, Mr. Wayne.” The man is tall, and somewhat rugged looking, with a scar that cuts down the side of his face and some interesting tattoos poking out from under his scrubs.
“Who are you?” Danny asks, not rising to his feet yet, but all his muscles tensing in preparation.
He turns and points to the haphazardly nametag pinned to his chest. “I’m Nurse Walters.” He then moves towards Bruce and Danny interrupts again.
“Claire Temple is the only nurse who’s supposed to be covering this room.”
“She just clocked out for the day. I’m handling the night shift.”
“Yeah, she would have told us.” Danny fully gets to his feet now. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“I just have to distribute his evening meds.”
“And I’m saying it could wait until Nurse Temple gets back.” Danny reaches into his pocket as he moves closer to pull out his phone. “In fact, I’m going to call her—” Before he can get his phone out of his pocket, the nurse’s hand is on his wrist and the other is forming a fist. Danny sets his jaw before looking up at the other man again. “You really don’t want to do that.”
“You don’t want to make that phone call.”
“Let go of me. I won’t ask you again.”
“What’re you gonna do, rich boy? Sue me?”
At that, Danny grins before launching into action. The hand in his pocket comes out and twists around to grab the wrist of the man holding him, twisting it around and pulling his shoulder into an awkward position, so Danny can lift his free arm and swing across, catching the nurse across the chin. The man stumbles backwards, surprised, before cracking his knuckles and launching himself towards Danny again.
What happens next is a blur of fast movement and slow blunders. It’s clear that when he throws a punch, he puts a lot of power behind it, but unfortunately Danny is faster, so not only do the blows rarely hit, but they throw him off his balance. He’s clearly a man who’s used to distance fighting, and that alone puts him at a disadvantage.
Eventually, though, he backs Danny into a corner, crowding him against the far wall. Danny pushes him backwards with a few well-timed punches, but he can’t seem to give himself quite enough distance. He’s briefly contemplating summoning his fist—it didn’t seem necessary at first, but now he’s lost the upper hand.
“Hey, Danny.”
He looks up, and Bruce isn’t in the bed anymore. He’s worked himself into a standing position, one hand braced across his side. Danny must look confused, and so does the nurse, who turns and is looking ready to turn on Bruce instead, the person he actually came for. Bruce squares up and quickly catches him by the throat.
“Duck.”
Danny blinks, as Bruce lands a few solid blows, forcing the nurse back towards the window. He then catches on, and just as Bruce rears back to land a kick to the gut of the nurse, Danny ducks, sending the nurse through the window in a shattering of glass, tumbling down onto the street below.
Right at the feet of Jessica Jones. Jessica looks down at the body, then up to the window as two men Danny doesn’t recognize join her on the sidewalk. He gives her a small wave in return, and she shakes her head. From the shaking of her shoulders, she might be laughing, though. He’ll take it as a win.
“Looks like Jessica’s got—” His voice cuts off as he turns back to Bruce, and he frowns. As skillful as that team up was, he can see the smear of red flooding the front of Bruce’s gown. “—Uh-oh.”
Bruce grimaces. “I think I ripped my stitches.”
The door blows open again, and this time it is the correct nurse, Claire Temple, looking between the two of them with a somewhat exasperated look on her face. Her eyes dart from the now broken window to Danny to Bruce, and she moves towards her patient with a heavy sigh.
“I swear, you’re just as bad as Daredevil.”
Bruce raises an eyebrow before tipping back and letting her do her job. “Everybody knows Daredevil but me.”
“I wouldn’t take it personally,” Danny replies. “He’s a deeply mistrusting person.”
Bruce chuckles before shaking his head. “Yeah. I can relate.”