Title: Love is Like a Fist to the Kidneys
Author: doc_sock/doc_socktopus
Disclaimer: Marvel's, not mine.
Fandom: Marvel Comics (New Avengers/Daredevil/Immortal Iron Fist)
Pairings: Jessica Jones/Luke Cage/Danny Rand, Jessica Jones/Luke Cage/Danny Rand/Matt Murdock
Word Count: 10,452
Rating: NC-17
Warning: mild dubcon? It kinda depends on how strict your definition of what's dubcon is.
Summary: Luke gets hurt, Jessica gets mad, Danny stops dancing the strange tango he's been dancing with the two of them. And how does Matt fit in?
Notes: Written for polybigbang. Thank you times a million to shadowkitty, soleta, and inkdot for helping me beta this thing. Thanks to gloss for making me an afuckingmazing mix to go with this.

MIX: OVERHEARD BY gloss

Danny Rand was jealous.

“Can’t grab a beer tonight,” Luke said on the other end of the phone. “Jess found a babysitter, so we’re goin’ out.”

Danny knew things would change once the two of them got married. Hell, they had changed as soon as the two of them started dating. It wasn’t Power Man and Iron Fist anymore, it was Luke and Jessica (and sometimes him) -- it wasn’t like he never saw Luke, either. Between occasionally working with the Avengers and trying to keep Matt together, they saw each other plenty. It was just… he was jealous.

He didn’t want Luke, as such. It was just that the two of them, Luke and Jessica, had such a great relationship compared to all of his. Every relationship he tried fell apart. Even he and Misty couldn’t keep it together for very long.

Plus, he was used to being a part of Luke’s life, used to having all of Luke. Now there was this part of him that… sure, he and Jessica were friends, but she was still a part of Luke that he didn’t quite understand.

So he was jealous, but he wasn’t going to let it get him down.

###

The problem with having a husband with unbreakable fucking skin was that once his insides got sloshed around in a particularly bad fall, there was nothing the doctors could do about it.

The problem with your husband being a superhero was that particularly bad falls happened a lot.

And when your husband was a superhero fugitive…

Jessica Jones sighed and absently popped Danielle’s binky back into her mouth while she waited for the Night Nurse to come out of the room on the right. This was all Danny’s fault. Danny and his stupid plans.

He’d called Luke about needing some backup dealing with a small cell of H.Y.D.R.A. agents. Which was all well and good until he came up with the stupid fucking plan to send Luke into their midst as a distraction because the bullets would just bounce off him.

It might have worked, if they hadn’t pushed him off the fucking roof.

She shot a swift glare over to Danny, who glared right back. If he didn’t make himself scarce as soon as the Night Nurse came back with news about whether her dumb fucking husband was going to be okay, she was going to kill him. Maybe she should call Matt and ask him to come hustle Danny away.

“How’s Luke?” Danny said as soon as the Nurse came back from the back room.

Jessica stepped in front of him, shifting the baby on her hip. “Is he going to be okay?”

Danny moved to step in front of her again, and she snapped, “Don’t even think about pulling the same shit you pulled last time we were here.”

He opened his mouth and snapped it closed when she glared at him again.

“Your husband,” the Nurse put a light stress on the word, “was lucky this time. He has a pair of cracked ribs, and some mild internal bleeding that’s already clotted-“

“Jesus,” Jessica breathed. “But he’s- it’s not like last time?”

“He just needs to take things easy for a while, and plenty of Tylenol for the ribs. No fighting until they’re healed.”

Danny nodded, and said, “I’ll make sure of that.”

Jessica fought the urge to kick him.

“He’s a bit high from the painkillers now,” the Nurse continued, ignoring the looks Jessica and Danny were shooting each other, “but he’s awake and you can take him home.”

The Nurse led the two of them to the back room, where Luke was already sitting on the edge of the bed, one arm cradled around his ribs, the other bracing him up.

“Heyyy pretty lady,” he said when he saw Jessica. She handed Danielle off to Danny, and moved forward to kiss Luke. While she was doing so, she checked him over quickly, as if she would be able to see any damage. He looked fine, just like he always did.

“No more being the distraction,” she said sternly, swatting his hand away from her backside and stepping away from him, drawing him up at the same time. He leaned heavily on her, and she nearly staggered beneath his weight. “No concussion?” she asked the Nurse.

“No. Let me just get the after-care papers, and you can be on your way.”

As much as she hated to do it, she motioned Danny forwarded, and transferred Luke’s weight to him, taking Danielle at the same time. The weight of worrying about Luke lifted at the same time as his physical weight shifted over to Danny. All that remained was a simmering anger at Danny for putting him in danger in the first place.

The ride back to their new apartment was awkward, to say the least. Luke fell asleep, leaning against the window in the back seat with Danielle in a carrier next to him, which meant Jessica had to sit up front, next to Danny. They didn’t even bother trying to make conversation with each other.

Not soon enough for Jessica’s tastes, they were idling in front of their apartment in Harlem, trying to wake up Luke and unload him from the cab. It was a new apartment, in the best corner of Harlem they could find. Living with Bucky-Cap had been fine for the short term, but for the sake of their sanity and everyone else’s, they had moved out. That many people plus a baby living in a confined space just didn’t work out, long term.

As soon as they got Luke into bed and Danielle into her playpen, Jessica grabbed Danny’s sleeve and dragged him into the kitchen, the furthest room from the bedroom.

“What the fuck were you thinking,” she hissed at him.

“You do realize you married a superhero, right?” he said calmly, leaning against the counter. “Superheroes get hurt.”

“Don’t fucking tell me about being a superhero, Daniel Rand,” she spat. “In case you don’t remember, I was one. And there’s a difference between getting hurt and unnecessary risk. He has a wife and family now. He can’t just go around-“

“Oh, but I can?” She rolled her eyes at that, but managed not to say You don’t have anyone waiting for you back home. That would just be cruel. “We needed a distraction and Luke-“

“Luke wouldn’t have even thought of going in there alone if you hadn’t suggested it!” she said, her voice rising until she was almost shouting.

“How do you know Luke wasn’t the one to suggest it?” he shouted back, coming forward off the counter, his fists clenched at his sides.

“Because it reeks of one of your stupid plans,” she said, stepping forward, her own fists clenched. It would have felt so fucking good to take a swing at him right then.

“My stupid plan worked,” he said.

She couldn’t believe he was trying to use that as an excuse. Luke could have been killed, and Danny thought the plan had worked? If getting Luke almost killed was part of the plan, he’d better start running now.

“So getting Luke thrown off a roof was part of the plan?”

“Well, no,” he admitted. “But the rest of it worked fine. It wasn’t an unnecessary-“

“Don’t you dare try to tell me it wasn’t an unnecessary risk, you asshole.” She was seething now. “You could have tried harder to come up with a better plan that didn’t amount to ‘you distract them and I’ll come in shooting.’”

“Punching, actually,” he said, as if that made a difference. “It’s Iron Fist, remember? Not Iron Gun.”

She could have started shrieking and pulling her hair out. “Don’t you fucking dare try to turn this into a joke, you piece of shit. I know it’s hard to get through your head that you have to care about people other than yourself, but-“

“Don’t tell me about caring about Luke,” Danny spat. “I was around long before you were. I’m the one he goes to when he’s in trouble. I’m the one he calls to bail him out and come to the rescue. Not you.”

“Oh, you think that makes you more important than his wife? I don’t fucking think so.” She was breathing hard and in Danny’s personal space, stabbing her finger into his chest. “You-“ stab “-are not-“ stab “-the one-“ stab “-he chooses-“ stab “-to come home to.”

Danny grabbed her hand and held it still, finger still stabbing into his chest. “Oh yeah? Well, I had sex with Luke before you did, so there.” He paused, his eyes widening a little as he leaned away from her and rubber a hand across the back of his neck. “Um, I didn’t mean to tell you that.”

She blinked, her mouth gaping open and shut. Of all the- He couldn't be serious. That was something Luke would have told her about. Or at least hinted at in some way. But Danny was staring at her with a flush coloring his cheeks and his hand on the back of his neck and she was pretty sure neither of those things came from anger.

Who the hell did he think he was, anyway? "So there?" They weren't fucking five years old. And how the fuck could Luke keep something like that from her? An "Oh, by the way, I used to sleep with my best friend," would have been nice, instead of him and Danny keeping it as their little fucking secr-

And then Danny was kissing her.

He grabbed the back of her neck and leaned down, crashing their mouths together and taking her gasp of surprise as a chance to thrust his tongue into her mouth. He pulled away almost as quickly, stumbling backwards and raising up his hands like he was expecting her to retaliate.

She ought to fucking break his nose. He thought, what? He could just magically make everything better -- take back his stupid plan and his stupid blurting out things she didn't want to hear and his stupid everything -- just by kissing her? She wasn't some fucking swooning romance novel heroine. This was just another one of his stupid fucking plans.

While he stood there, holding his hands up and trying to stutter an explanation, she decided she was going to retaliate all right, but not with her fists. She shoved him, ignoring his grunt of pain as the edge of the counter dug into his back, and fisted her hand in the front of his shirt, pulling him down and kissing him fiercely. If he wanted to play it that way, she was going to play it that way.

She bit at his lip and forced her tongue between his teeth. Fuck him, and fuck his plans, and fuck his "so there," and fuck his-

Danny was just starting to respond, when his eyes open and he looked past her. She knew even before his eyes widened that Luke was standing behind her, and that she was so fucked.

She pulled away and turned around, searching for something to say. “…surprise?” she tried. “Happy birthday!” His birthday was still months away, but she grabbed Danny behind her and drew him forward, shoving him at Luke, grinning all the while.

###

Luke came awake with a start, his head pounding and his ribs screaming at him when he tried to push himself up. He fell back down, grunting with pain from his ribs again, when he realized that it was just Jessica and Danny, having a loud fight. They were going to wake Danielle if they weren't careful. His insides felt like they were sloshing around inside him. He couldn't get bruises on the surface of his skin, no, but he sure could get them inside. After that fall – and that was the last damn time he was letting Danny plan anything – he wouldn't be surprised if he pissed blood for days.

The shouting was still going on, getting louder. He reached across to the window, wincing as the movement pulled at his ribs, and slipped a couple fingers through the blinds. Dark out. It had been dark out when he got shoved off the roof. He wouldn't be at home in his own bed, smelling Jessica on the sheets, unless it was the same night.

He got out of bed, cradling his ribs and trying to move his upper body as little as possible. When he was halfway to the kitchen, the shouting stopped, and he thought maybe they heard him coming. When he walked through the door, he stopped sort.

Instead of two angry superheroes about to go at it in a fighting sense, there were two angry superheroes going at it in a biblical sense. Jessica was kissing Danny with the same intense ferocity she kissed him when she was furious with him. Danny's eyes popped open and looked straight at him, and Luke knew that Danny knew he was fucked.

Jessica turned around, saying "Surprise! Happy birthday!" at the same time.

It wasn't his birthday.

Luke stepped forward as she shoved Danny toward him and decided to roll with it.

"You've been plannin' this a long time?" he asked, grabbing Danny's biceps and walking him backwards until he was trapped between him and Jessica.

"You could say that," she hedged, and he knew this had just happened.

Just happened the way things sometimes just happened between him and Danny, back when they were running around together as Power Man and Iron Fist. Yeah, he knew about things just happening. It would be okay if this just happened, too. It wasn't like it was something he'd never thought about.

He leaned over Danny's shoulder and kissed Jessica, trying not to let her see that it hurt his ribs to do so. She responded eagerly, at least until Danny said, "Hey, getting kind of crushed here. Don't forget about me, guys."

They broke apart, and she laughed a little, smiling that gorgeous Jessica Jones smile at him and turning a slightly frostier one on Danny's back. Her eyes narrowed slightly and he knew that she was still pissed off, and that Danny was about to find out with angry sex was like with Jess. She lifted her gaze to meet his, silently asking if this was okay. He should be asking her the same thing. Instead, he just nodded and grabbed Danny's shoulder.

"Just like old times?" Danny said, the tension leaving his body slowly as Jess grabbed his other arm and together they pulled him toward the bedroom.

"I hope not," Jess said.

"Just like old times but better," Luke put in, grinning a broad grin when Jessica squeezed Danny's arm with a little too much nail. He knew that when he pulled Danny's shirt off, there would be little crescents marking his flesh where Jess' fingernails had been.

Danny grinned and shook off both their hands. "Now that you've escorted me here, what do you plan to do with me?" He leered at them both at the end of the sentence.

Jessica laughed a little again, and reached forward to grab his shirt. She roughly began undoing the buttons down the front, and then shoved it off his shoulders. While she was doing that, Luke tried to get out of his shirt and cradle his ribs at the same time. It didn't go so well, and he let out a hiss of pain. Both Danny and Jessica turned to him, and moved forward to help. When they realized what the other was doing, they glared at each other, and he had to snicker.

"Don't make me laugh," he said through gritted teeth. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Sit down." She pressed gently against his shoulder, backing him toward the bed. He went willingly, and let Danny ease the T-shirt over his head and off his arms. Danny ran his hands over is chest, and knelt between his knees.

"Remember this?" he asked, and bent forward to undo Luke's jeans with his teeth.

Luke's breath hissed out between his teeth. He thought maybe he would come just from the feeling of Danny's cheek rubbing against the side of his dick, through his clothes, as he pulled the zipper down with his teeth. He glanced over at Jessica, to see her watching Danny just as intently and licking her lips, her mouth slightly open.

"Jess," he said, reaching out a hand to her. She sauntered over to the bed, shedding clothes as she went, until Danny was the only one with most of his clothes still on. She stood behind Danny and leaned over him as best she could, planting her hands on Luke's shoulders and pressing her lips against his. He opened his mouth to her, and her tongue slid in, hot and heavy.

"Stop forgetting about me," Danny said from between them.

Luke didn't laugh this time, but it was a close thing. Jessica did, and stepped back so she could pull Danny up. "You're wearing too many clothes," she told him.

"It's not my fault you got distracted before helping me out of them," he protested, waggling his eyebrows at the same time.

"Just get them off him," Luke said from the bed, "or else he'll talk you to death."

"Hey!" Danny yelped and fell silent as Jessica stepped close to him, brushing her breasts against his chest, and began to slowly unbutton his jeans and inch the zipper down. Luke lazily reached down and wrapped his fist loosely around his dick, jacking himself as slowly as Jessica was pulling down Danny's pants. He could see Danny's Adam's apple bob as he gulped, and the shallow tent in his boxers grew bigger.

Jessica stood back up and slid her hand around the back of Danny's neck, drawing his head down to kiss her. He went, eyes glazed, until she nipped his lip hard and stepped back.

"I'm still mad at you," she said, and turned away.

Luke held out his arms and drew her in between his legs, ignoring the dull ache in his ribs in favor of letting his dick rub against the crease of her thigh. She kissed him again, thrusting her tongue into his mouth in time with his slow thrusts against her. She bit his lip gently and drew back a little.

"And I'm not too happy with you."

"I know babe," he said, and grimaced. "Let's move this party more horizontal so my ribs stop yelling. Danny."

Danny nearly tripped over the boxers around his ankle, and shook them off less than gracefully, his dick bobbing awkwardly. "Lie down," he said when he was by their side. "Your ribs must hurt."

Jess pushed lightly on his shoulders, until he was stretched out on the bed. They both crawled on there with him, Jess getting there first and bending over him to kiss him thoroughly. He groaned into her mouth, his dick hardening more than he thought was possible. A hand that wasn't his was stroking him lightly, barely touching him, and he broke away to tell whoever it was harder.

Jessica just smiled and continued her torture.

He tried to thrust up into her hand, and bit back an unmanly whimper as a stab of pain went through his ribs. If he almost thought he felt something grate inside of him. It was enough to make his dick start to soften, and both Jessica and Danny looked at him, both concerned.

"Maybe we shouldn't-" Jessica started at the same time Danny said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he grated out, going to reach out to draw them closer and dropping his arms as his ribs twinged again. "Just a little sore. Keep doing what you were doing."

Jessica looked at him for a long moment, then reached across him to grab Danny and draw him closer to her. She attacked his mouth and it took him a second to get with the program, then his hands were roaming up her sides and across her breasts, rolling her nipples between his fingers and squeezing them as she gasped into his mouth. Luke could almost feel the heat of her right over his dick as she leaned into Danny's touch.

Danny's dick was leaking precome, and his own started to do the same as Jessica reached out with both hands and took hold of a dick in each one. She broke away from Danny, panting and licking her lips.

Danny looked smug, and glanced at Luke as though asking permission, his hand covering Jessica's and speeding her up. He looked slightly unsure for once, so Luke nodded, even though Jessica would kill him if she thought he was giving permission for anything.

Jessica lay back willingly when Danny prodded her shoulders, turning her head so she could kiss Luke while Danny slid into her. She gasped into his mouth as he slid his hand around the front of her, reaching down to circle a finger over her clit. When Danny's hand wrapped around him and Jessica started moaning, it only took a few strokes before he was exploding all over the bandages wrapping his ribs. Danny grunted when he finished, and Jessica nearly keened and bit his tongue when she came, still kissing him.

"Danny, get up and get a wet cloth," Jessica said after a few minutes of silently snuggling into Luke's side.

The last thing Luke heard before he drifted off to sleep with Danny bitching and moaning about having to do all the work.

###

Jessica wasn't quite sure when she decided she wanted to sleep with Danny again. She was fairly certain it was somewhere between taking a clump of dirt out of Danielle's mouth in the park one night and kissing her husband good morning in bed.

Which was a fucking large swathe of time.

She brought it up with Luke over dinner – Chinese food from the takeout place down the street – after hinting around it all day.

"So I was thinking," she started.

"Yeah, we should call Danny," Luke said around a mouthful of meat.

"And fuck his brains out?" she asked, just to be sure they were on the same page.

"Yeah."

So she got Danny on the phone and invited him over for "dinner", marking little quotes in the air as she said it, even though he couldn't see them. He agreed, and when he asked if he should pick anything up, she resisted saying "lube and condoms", and told him they had plenty of Chinese for him.

When he knocked on their apartment door, Luke opened it and grabbed the front of Danny's shirt, pulling him in and shutting the door. He pressed Danny back against the wood of the door and kissed him. Jessica could feel an ache growing between her thighs as she watched their lips move together. She nearly moaned when Luke straightened up and stepped back.

"Didn't get to do that last time," he said, sounding just a touch smug as he watched Danny's tongue flick out and lick his swollen lips.

"I thought I was coming over for dinner," he said dazedly.

"You can have dessert first, this time," Jessica told him, walking across the room and reaching up to plant a kiss on his lips. She could almost taste Luke on them, and swiped her tongue across his bottom lip as she pulled back.

"You said dinner," he accused, even as he leaned slightly forward, following her lips.

"She did air quotes," Luke told him, grinning and reaching forward to pull Danny away from the door. "Now are you gonna talk or come to bed?"

"You can't hear air quotes," Danny muttered, but followed them to the bedroom anyway, a smile on his lips.

This felt right. Danny was a part of Luke, she knew that, and if she wanted all of Luke, she needed Danny too. It wasn’t something she’d ever thought about, not until that moment, but she knew it was true. Maybe she could have found a more conventional way to have that part of Luke, but did she really want to? She stepped back to let Danny go through the bedroom door ahead of her, studying his body as he stepped by her.

“Are you checking out my ass?” he asked, giving it a little shake.

“It’s a nice ass,” she said, grinning. She reached out and swatted it, laughing as Danny caught her wrist and brought her palm up to his mouth to kiss. A shiver went down her spine at the look in his eyes, and she fell quiet.

He pulled her further into the room, sitting down on the bed when the back of his knees bumped into it, and pulling her in between his legs. She could feel his cock against her leg, hard and waiting. Luke came up behind her, one hand falling on her shoulder and the other moving her hair away so he could kiss the back of her neck.

Danny slid his hands up her ribs, underneath her shirt, lifting it as he went and leaning forward to place soft kisses on the skin of her stomach. He looked up at her with a wicked smile on his face, and bit gently, then soothed the skin with his tongue. His tongue circled her navel and dipped inside, and the rush of heat between her legs left her weak-kneed, and she moaned a little when Danny pushed her back and stood up.

They helped her slide out of her clothing, and then the two of them were naked too. Naked, and hard, and grinning. Danny came at her first, pushing her back down on the bed and laughing at her surprised squeak. She laughed at the surprised look on his face when Luke pushed him down on top of her, and rolled them both of so she was kneeling over his hips, teasingly brushing her labia across the tip of his cock.

“Jess,” he hissed out as she wiggled her hips so he grazed her opening. Her pussy ached with need. She smiled wickedly, but didn’t sink down on him, instead moving off and pulling Luke onto the bed too. Danny groaned, the groan turning into a moan as she leaned up and kissed Luke.

His tongue moved in her mouth, stroking in and out in a mimicry of fucking her. She could feel Danny pressing behind her, his hands coming around her body to fondle her breasts. Each touch to her nipples sent sparks of pleasure shooting straight to her clit, and she moaned into Luke’s mouth.

“Does that feel good?” Danny asked, his breath hot against her ear.

“Don’t stop,” she broke away from Luke’s mouth to gasp, leaning back against him. She could feel him smile as he pressed a kiss to her shoulder, one hand skittering down her side. She flinched away when he hit a ticklish spot, and his hand paused there.

Then Luke was holding her still and Danny was running the tips of his fingers over that spot over and over while she gasped with shrieks and giggles, trying to squirm out of their combined grasp.

“Payback’s a bitch,” Danny said, grinning, when he stopped and Luke let her go.

“You-“ she gasped, breathless and more turned on than she had ever been in her entire fucking life. She swore she was dripping. She’d never had this much fun in bed. Sex with Luke was hot and passionate and everything she’d read about in trashy romance novels as a teenager. Now the three of them were laughing and breathless, yet there was still a look smoldering in their eyes, and she was sure in hers, too.

“Fuck me,” she said to Luke, in a breathless voice that she didn’t quite recognize as hers.

“Finally,” Luke murmured, and crawled over her as she slowly lay back on the sheets. He drove into her with one long, smooth stroke, filling her and soothing the growing ache inside of her. She could see love in his eyes, the most intense expression she’d ever seen on his face.

She turned her head, looking over at Danny, who was biting his lip and jacking off with a rhythm that matched the one Luke was pounding into her. He was looking at both of them with the same look that was in Luke’s eyes.

Between that and the rocking against her clit, she came suddenly, shouting and clamping her legs around Luke’s ass. He thrust into her another few times, and then he was coming, too. She felt Danny’s come striping her leg as she relaxed, panting, with Luke heavy on top of her. He was pressing lazy kisses to her collarbone as Danny crawled up the bed and curled next to her.

“That,” Luke said, slowly withdrawing from her and rolling over to stare at the ceiling, his chest heaving, “was damn fine.”

“You two are the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” Danny said, pressing his own kisses to her shoulder.

Jessica snuggled between the two of them, lazily thinking that she was going to regret falling sleep in the wet spot in a few hours.

“So, what about dinner?” Danny said.

Luke reached over Jessica and smacked him, growling, “Don’t get greedy.”

“Hey, if you’re going to invite me over under false pretenses, at least-” the rest was lost as Jessica grabbed a pillow and held it over Danny’s head.

“I am trying to sleep,” she said, lifting it off his face enough to reveal Danny’s bright grin. “If you want food, you can get it yourself.”

“You’re the worst hostess,” he told her, but snuggled closer, wrapping an arm around them both as best he could.

###

Somehow, Danny wasn’t surprised when that was how it went. He slid into their lives the way he slid into everything else. Wendell Rand’s son knew how to get what he wanted.

He’d get a call every couple weeks, and then every couple days, inviting him over for dinner. He stopped expecting food after the second time, and started bringing a change of clothing and leaving shampoo in their shower.

Soon he was there every night, like it was just a given that he’d become part of their relationship and would be there when Luke got home just like Jessica was. Instead of forcing Matt to spar with him, or dropping in to help with his patrols, he'd head to Harlem and let himself into Luke and Jessica's apartment. When he could take time off from dismantling Rand Industries, he’d meet one of them, sometimes both of them, for lunch and a quickie. He didn’t question it, just kept showing up and making them laugh. He was Danny Rand, and he knew how to make people fall in love with him.

He just wasn’t sure how to make people stay in love with him, but he could figure that part out later.

###

The worst part of it, Matt decided later, was that he’d been having such a good day. His caseload was light enough that he could take the afternoon off after he won his case that morning, the jury coming back with a Not Guilty after a scant half hour of deliberations.

It was warm outside, with a light breeze that kept it from being too hot. He could walk down to the park, and eat lunch there while soaking up the sunshine. On the leisurely stroll there, he didn’t hear a single mugging or robbery or anything that he felt compelled to stop. The criminals of Hell’s Kitchen had decided it was a good day to take the afternoon off too, he surmised, dodging around an open heating grate. The Kingpin had been quiet lately and the Hand had taken to skirting Hell’s Kitchen instead of operating within it.

He was having such a good day.

He settled himself on a bench near the edge of the park, resting his white cane next to him and unwrapping his sandwich. The sun was pleasantly warm on his face, and he tipped his head back as he chewed.

“Oh fuck, Danny.”

His ears caught the voice and he immediately identified it as Jessica Jones. What was she doing around here?

“Hold on, let me-“

And with Danny Rand, no less?

“Fuck, right there.” He heard Jessica gasp, and was about to get up to see if they needed help – they were in the alley across the road – when the smell of sex and sweat hit him full force. He recognized the undertones of the people the smells were coming from.

As his brain was processing the information, the muffled grunts and sighs and moans were beginning to register in his ears. They were-

Jessica and Danny were-

Oh fuck.

He got up and hurried away, sandwich forgotten on the bench. He brushed past people on the street, ignoring the indignant cries in his wake, until he was far enough away that he couldn’t hear them anymore.

Something wrenched in his gut as he forced himself to state it. Jessica was having an affair. With Danny.

Did Luke know? No, the last time he’d seen the two of them, Jessica and Luke, together had been not that long ago. If there were troubles in their relationship, they were doing a good job of hiding them. Everything he knew about them, everything he could sense, said that they were deeply in love.

Except that was a lie, wasn’t it?

He rounded a corner onto an empty street by his apartment and pressed himself against the wall, panting even though he hadn’t been moving that fast. Jessica and Luke were his best friends. When he thought of good, stable relationships, they were who he thought of. When he tried to have a good, stable relationship himself, they were who he tried to emulate.

And when he inevitably failed and whatever relationship it was crumbled around him, it was okay, because Luke and Jessica were still together, so he still had hope. He still had proof that it could be done.

Now his best friends, the one good relationship he knew of, were going to split up.

He ruthlessly ignored the ache in the pit of his stomach and pushed himself away from the wall. He had to find Luke, had to let him know that his wife and best friend weren’t as infallible as Matt thought they were. That they were capable of letting him down just as much as the rest of the world. Luke deserved to know that the two of them were going around behind his back, like criminals planning a jewel heist.

He decided to try their apartment first in his search for Luke, not actually expecting him to be there. He was, though, and Matt gulped as he knocked on the door; he hadn’t had nearly enough time to figure out what to say.

Luke opened the door, surprise clear in his voice as he said, “Matt? What’re you doing here? Something wrong?”

“You could say that,” he said, slipping inside. He could hear the baby sleeping peacefully in a crib a room over.

“What happened?” Luke asked.

“Nothing to me,” he said, unable to stand the worry in his voice. “I was out today, and Danny and Jessica-” He was ashamed to feel his eyes burning. They had always seemed so happy. He couldn’t be happy, he understood that, but he’d always taken some solace in the face that his best friends were so happy together.

He was about to destroy that.

###

Matt wasn’t talking, and Luke was starting to really worry. “What happened to Danny and Jessica?”

“I overheard them having sex. In an alley,” Matt said. He looked utterly fucking miserable, and Luke was about to laugh until he realized Matt looked like he was about to cry. “I’m so sorry, Luke. If there’s anything I can do…”

Fucking Daredevil is standing in his living room, looking like he’s gonna cry because he thinks that Jessica is cheating on him with Danny. Luke had no idea what to do, and part of him wanted to just laugh and explain the situation to Matt, but the rest of him knew that Matt would just take it the wrong way. And he looked so sad and pathetic, standing there, his arms limp by his side.

Luke thought it just might be the saddest fucking thing he’d ever seen, and he wasn’t quite sure how to make it better.

“Look Matt,” he put a hand on Matt’s shoulder, gripping it. “Don’t- Fuck, man, it’s not what you think.”

“Don’t,” Matt said hoarsely. “I know you can’t think Jessica would do that to you, but I swear, they were-“

He kissed Matt to shut him up. It wasn’t like he and Jessica and Danny hadn’t talked about it before, anyway, idly wondering what it would be like and if it would be a good idea. This wasn’t a good idea, he could tell by the way Matt had frozen against his lips, but it was too late to take it back.

As he pulled away, he could almost see Matt think What the hell, they’re splitting up anyway. Then Matt was pulling him forward and pressing his lips against Luke’s in a closed-mouth kiss. When Luke’s tongue flicked against his lips, he opened his mouth to let him in.

This wasn’t going to go anywhere near the top of Luke’s Best Ideas Ever list.

Still, if it was distracting Matt from whatever the fuck it was about the entire situation that was making him upset enough to have that look on his face, then he was okay with it. Because Daredevil looking so broken wasn’t a sight he ever wanted to see again.

He smoothed his hand down Matt’s side, gripping his waist and pulling him flush against his body. Matt came willingly, pressing against him and devouring his mouth like he was starving.

When he pulled Matt toward the bedroom, Matt didn’t resist.

###

He was a horrible person.

What kind of friend takes advantage of one of their closest friends in his hour of need? All he had to do was keep himself together and offer Luke a shoulder to figuratively cry on. But no, he’d had to take advantage of Luke’s distress. He’d had to let himself be the revenge fuck, when he should have protested and pushed Luke away as soon as he’d first kissed him.

But it had felt so good.

In one fell swoop he’d helped destroy Jessica and Luke’s relationship irrevocably and probably lost all three of them as friends. In the end, he had no one to blame but himself for being so stupid.

He carefully lifted Luke’s arm off of him and sat up, only to have Luke mumble “Where you going?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “This was a mistake. I took advantage of your grief instead of being a good friend, and I’m sorry.” He could feel Luke’s eyes on him as he shoved his clothes back on, fingers shaking just a little.

“-the fuck is wrong with you?” Luke growled.

He hurried out of the apartment without answering. He had no idea.

###

Jessica couldn’t fucking believe that out of the three of them, it was Luke who got to fuck Matt first. It wasn’t fucking fair, but she couldn’t really be mad at him. They’d agreed early on – although at the time it had seemed like wishful thinking – that Matt was their free pass.

“So wait, let me get this straight,” Danny was saying. “He comes to you all upset because he overheard me and Jess going at it and you come on to him?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Luke said, a faint grin on his face.

“What was it like?” Jessica asked. Fuck if he was going to get away with not telling her every god damn detail.

Luke shrugged. “Fast. Rough. What do you want me to say? He was pretty damn upset.”

Danny sat back on the couch, putting his arm around Jessica’s shoulders. “We should probably find him and explain, since Luke was too busy to do so.”

“Probably,” Luke said.

It was easier said than done. No matter what they tried to do, they couldn’t seem to pin down Matt. He wasn’t anywhere in Hell’s Kitchen, at least not when they were there. Whenever they tried his office, he was “in a meeting” or had “just left”.

None of them were quite sure what to do.

###

Matt knew he should stop avoiding the three of them. It was childish, and something a good man wouldn't do. He was Daredevil; he was supposed to be a good person. All evidence to the contrary.

The guilt was eating him alive, though. He couldn’t sleep at night, wondering if Luke had told Jessica. He thought that maybe the two of them were still together, judging by the number of times they tried to see him at the office. Or maybe they were just trying to streamline the process of punishing him.

Eventually, he couldn’t stand the guilt anymore, couldn’t stand the shame of being such a horrible person, and found himself standing outside of their apartment and knocking on the door. He needed them to forgive him, if they were even still together. It was the closest he could get now to the release of confession. They could do whatever they wanted to him, as long as they forgave him.

He wasn’t sure he even had the right to ask for forgiveness. There wasn’t any excuse that he could give. He fucked up, and the blame lay entirely on his shoulders.

When Danny opened the door, he let out a surprised, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Danny just laughed and motioned for him to come in. “Finally decided to stop avoiding us?”

“I came here to talk to Jessica and Luke,” he said through gritted teeth, standing stiffly by the door. “Not you.”

“I’m hurt,” he said, lifting a mocking hand to his chest. Matt just gritted his teeth more and didn’t say anything. Danny could mock all he liked; Matt may have been the revenge fuck, but if it hadn't been for Danny, there wouldn't have been a revenge fuck in the first place.

“Sit down,” Danny finally said, “so I can explain what’s going on.”

Matt sat gingerly on the edge of a chair. He could hear Jessica and Luke in the next room, quiet and listening. “Fine. Talk.”

“You see, Matt,” Danny said, grinning. “When a man loves a couple-”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot, Danny,” Matt huffed. He was starting to feel like one, though, as his mind began filling in the blanks. He could hear Jessica and Luke laughing quietly in the bedroom, and pressed his lips into a thin line.

“Well what do you expect?” Danny asked cheerfully. “You barge in here assuming things about the three of us-“

“I didn’t know there was a three of you,” Matt snapped, “and that’s what the problem was.”

“Oh, Matt. You can’t expect us to report every little change in our relationship to you.”

He ground his teeth together. He hated being mocked almost as much as Danny delighted in mocking people. Jessica and Luke were still laughing at him from the other room, eavesdropping on the conversation. “What was I supposed to think?”

“That maybe you should talk to us?” Danny suggested. Matt could hear the smirk in his voice. He was beginning to think that going there had been a bad idea, and he should have just continued his avoidance tactics.

###

Danny wouldn’t lie; he was having a lot of fun goading Matt. He couldn’t resist, when Matt’s buttons were so easy to push. He supposed he was a little upset that Matt had immediately tattled on them to Luke instead of stopping to find out what was going on, and that was coloring his desire to push as many buttons as possible.

Still, he used his Very Serious voice as he laughed on the inside at how riled Matt was getting. “There is the matter of you fucking Luke while we were out.”

He almost felt bad when Matt flinched at that, color riding high on his cheeks.

“But,” he continued, “every relationship has a couple free passes, and you just happen to be one of ours.”

He watched Matt turning that over in his head, and guessed that the flush rising through his cheeks was one of pleasure.

“Do you need anything else explained?” He couldn’t resist goading him just a little bit more. It was all in fun, he swore. Sure he was laughing on the inside, but it was fond laughter. “Like what happens when a man loves a woman?”

Luke’s guffaw couldn’t have been more poorly timed. Matt’s lips thinned even more and he got up without a word and stalked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Well, fuck.

###

Matt could have put the entire incident out of his mind. He could have forgotten that he even had been friends with the three of them, that he embarrassingly yearned to have a relationship like Jessica and Luke, that sometimes Danny was the only person who could make him laugh on bad days.

He was doing a good job of not thinking about them at all and ignoring the stab of pain to his gut whenever he did. He was doing an even better job of avoiding the three of them. And then he was out one night and he heard them.

He smelled Luke’s obnoxious cologne and had turned to go in the other direction when he managed to single the sound of them out of the jostle of people, almost unconsciously. They were at the end of a deep alley near a deli Danny loved. It took him a moment to identify what the slurping sound was, and when he did, he could feel the blood heating his cheeks.

He quickly focused on the rumble of a bus two blocks away and beat a hasty retreat back to the office.

It kept happening, though. He’d round a corner and hear something, the sounds drifting toward him from blocks away. It was even worse than when he went through puberty and it seemed like everyone around him was having sex all the time. At least then it wasn’t his friends’ – ex-friends’, he reminded himself, not sure if what he was feeling was anger or sadness – privacy that he was invading.

He tried to stop, each time he stumbled across them becoming more and more embarrassing. If he weren’t still so angry with them, he would find a way to let them know that he could hear them. But he couldn’t face the thought of going to them and asking them to please stop- what? Please stop what? Being in love in his presence?

It wasn’t like it was even their fault. He just needed to try harder to avoid them. Every time they came to the office or tried to corner him at night, he managed to avoid even having to see them. It shouldn’t be that hard to avoid being able to hear them, too.

Except it was.

###

“Do you think he’s even going to figure it out?” Danny asked.

“It’d be a hell of a lot easier if we could just talk to him.” Luke’s unspoken Of course not hung in the air.

###

When Matt started seeking them out, seeking out the sounds of his friends fucking each other against walls and in shadowed doorways and in their own apartment, he knew he was in trouble. He’d crossed a line, a line he never thought he’d want to cross, never mind actually stroll over like he belonged on the other side -- the voyeur side, the stalker side, the side that he was usually beating up.

He stopped being able to tell himself that it was an accident every time when he started feeling the burn of jealousy at every gasp and moan.

He was sick. He knew that. He knew that he shouldn’t be lurking around corners and on rooftops, listening. There wasn’t any question about it. He could just imagine going to confession and admitting that he’d started stalking his friends because-

No, he wasn’t going to go that far, to admit that. The shame and loathing he felt every night when he made his way back to his empty brownstone was enough. Admitting that he wanted… it would just make it worse. It would just make him more pathetic and disgusting.

Sometimes, late at night, he imagined what might happen if they found out. All too often for something that was his fantasy, the look on their faces was anger and nothing else. When he stripped out of his costume, freeing his inevitably aching cock from its leathery prison, he’d bring himself off with a couple rough jerks. His penance.

He wasn’t sure he could fall any lower than he already had.

###

Having sex in public places was getting to be pretty fucking tiresome. The worry of other people seeing or hearing them almost outweighed the knowledge that Matt was out there, listening. It was almost a relief when he started following them home and lurking on their roof, like some lost puppy that was too frightened to come in out of the cold.

“This would be fucking creepy if it were anyone but Matt,” she said over breakfast one morning. “Do you think he knows that we know he’s up there at night?”

“Do you think he’d still do it if he did?” Luke asked around a mouthful of cereal.

“It’d be easier if we could just pin him down somewhere,” Danny said, from where he was crouched in front of Danielle’s high chair, spoon in hand. “Wooosh into the hanger! I mean, okay, he’s jealous of us but not jealous enough – or maybe too self-sacrificing or some bullshit like that – to come out and say so.”

“I don’t know how much clearer we could make ourselves, since he won’t let us get anywhere the fuck near him.”

“At least we know he’s interested.” Danny got up and put the bowl of cream of wheat in the sink, his eyes lighting up. “We just need a better plan.”

“No,” Luke said.

“But-“

“No,” Jessica chimed in.

“It’d be a good pl-“

“No, ” they said together, and started laughing.

“What could possibly go wrong with us making an appointment under a false name?” Danny asked. The corners of his mouth were quirking up even as he tried to sulk at them.

At that level of detail, it wasn’t that bad of a plan. Jessica rewarded him with a quick peck on the lips; positive reinforcement and all. He grabbed her as she tried to step back and deepened the kiss, smiling into her mouth.

Luke was licking his lips when they parted, staring at them hungrily. “I’ll make the call. You two just continue with what you‘re doin’.”

###

Part of Matt warmed as he heard Luke, Jessica, and Danny come in to Nelson & Mudock, and part of him cursed their persistence. Over the past month and a half he’d managed to avoid them by the skin of his teeth, ducking out the back and leaving Foggy to deal with them every time they showed up here, scaling a building when they tried to corner him on the street. If they knew what he was doing late at night-

He shoved down that thought, and the images that followed it. He had a meeting in two minutes with a Mr. Lage, so he couldn’t disappear. It would be easy enough to brush them off if he just explained that he had a meeting with a client and couldn’t talk to them and why didn’t they come back later.

Of course, “later” he would be gone.

“Mr. Murdock?” Becky’s voice came over the intercom. “Mr. Lage is here to see you.”

He’d been so distracted by trying not to think about how Luke had made Jess- He cut that thought off ruthlessly. He'd been so distracted trying not to think about the last time he sat on their rooftop being a creepy stalker that he hadn’t even heard his client come in the building.

In fact, the only people he could sense out there that weren’t part of the staff were Jessica and Danny and L-

Oh no.

Jessica and Danny sailed into the room, both making a beeline for his desk.

“Hi, Matt,” Danny said as they each grabbed a pile of folders and papers.

“Bye, Matt,” Jessica said as they turned and ran out the door.

Matt was too shocked to do anything as Luke strolled in and sat down in the chair in front of the desk.

“What the fuck was that?” Matt asked. Cuke Lage. He should have known. “Those are confidential documents and-“

“They ain’t doing nothing to ‘em,” Luke said, leaning back and hooking his arm over the back of the chair. “Think of it as incentive.”

“Incentive…?”

“To get you back to our place.” Luke stood up, hands in his pockets, grinning. “I’ll walk you there.”

Matt was going to kill them. This childish prank was too much, and if they thought he was going to let them get away with- with disrupting his workday… The only reason he was going along with this was because he needed those files; it had nothing to do with how he shivered when Luke grabbed his elbow and escorted him out of the room.

“Don’t want you getting away,” he murmured as Matt reassured Becky and Foggy that yes everything was fine and he would see them tomorrow. At least Luke had had the sense to be the last appointment of a very long day.

He jerked his arm out of Luke’s grasp. “I’m not going to try to get away,” he said. “I need that paperwork back, and if that means playing your ridiculous little game, then I will.”

He was quiet for a moment, and then added, “And Cuke Lage is a stupid fake name.”

A laugh rumbled out of Luke. “Ain’t stupid if it works.”

###

Luke barely got Matt through the door before the man was zeroing in on the pile of paperwork on the table and heading for it, saying something about getting out of here and if they ever pulled a stunt like this again he’d-

He was cut off as Danny grabbed a fistful of the front of his shirt and jerked him toward him. Luke winced at the click of teeth as their mouths met, but then all he could think about was how the look of surprise on Matt’s face made the rough kiss fucking hotter. He’d been half hard since he grabbed Matt’s elbow and Matt hadn’t immediately pulled away; now his jeans were damn uncomfortable.

“What the-“ Matt started when Danny finally let him pull away.

“Shut up, Matt,” Danny cut him off.

Jessica came out of the baby’s room, rubbing her hands together. “Okay, she’s asleep. Hey Matt.” She walked over to him, her hips swinging back and forth in a way that had Luke aching to touch her. “We were going to just get you here to talk to you, but, well. Plans change.”

She grabbed his arm and Luke stepped forward to grab the other. He could feel Matt’s muscles tensing in his grip, but then he relaxed and let them pull him forward to the bedroom, not saying anything. When Danny, who was bringing up the rear, reached out and pinched his ass, Matt jumped and let out a noise that was dangerously close to a squeak.

“I’ve wanted to do that for weeks,” he said conversationally.

Luke watched with fascination as Matt coughed and a blush crawled up his cheeks. He let them manhandle him as much as they wanted, staying quiet, like he was worried making any noise would scare them away.

Luke could fix that.

When they were in the bedroom, he pulled Matt around toward him and tilted his head up so he could kiss him, both hands cupping his face until he was sure Matt wasn’t going anywhere. He let one hand wander down to slide up under Matt’s untucked shirt, feeling the muscles of his back flutter as he ran his hand across them. His other hand went down to cup and squeeze Matt’s ass.

It didn’t take long to discover that if he squeezed as he was stroking his tongue across Matt’s, Matt would press his hips toward him. When he added a second hand to the one kneading Matt’s ass, Matt moaned into his mouth, pressing against him and finally seeming to release himself from whatever mental cage he’d locked himself up in.

His hands moved from where they’d been glued to Luke’s hips, sliding up underneath his shirt and running across his back with feather-light touches. Luke shivered underneath his touch, his dick hard enough to bang nails with.

“Hey,” Danny’s voice broke him out of his single-minded focus on Matt, reminding him that there were other people in the room. “You already had him once, share with the rest of us.”

He laughed as he broke away from Matt, feeling him tense for an instant and then relax again. “He’s all yours,” he said, turning Matt away from him and pushing him forward a little bit.

Jessica was right there her mouth turned up and hands ready to draw his head down to kiss her. He didn't want to think about the starved way Matt kissed her, instead focusing on Jess' little moans and gasps. He began to rub his hand up and down, over his jeans. Danny was already half naked, boxers the only thing he was still wearing. He looked raring to go, grinning and pressing against Matt’s back.

When they were finally all naked, it was a simple matter of pushing Matt down on the bed and deciding who got to do what to him. Jessica won the argument, by being the most persistent, while Matt propped himself up on his elbows, a blush staining down his chest, arguing that he should get a say in it; it was his body.

Jessica laughed at that, and bent down to kiss him. Luke reached over and grabbed a bottle of lube out of the nightstand and squirted some onto his palm, tossing it over to Danny when he was done. While he watched his wife kiss one of his best friends, he slid his hand up and down his dick, not really trying to come, just lazily stroking and watching the show. When he looked over at Danny, he was licking his lips and doing the same.

“Condom,” Jessica said over her shoulder when she finally broke away from Matt, whose lips were red and plump and glistening. Danny tossed her one, which was good because Luke suddenly couldn’t think straight. He wanted his dick between those lips, but this wasn’t flavored lube, and even if it was, he was pretty sure Matt wouldn’t appreciate a mouthful of Sensual Strawberry. It left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth; he could just imagine how it would taste to Matt.

His groan matched Matt’s when Jessica slid down on his dick, inching her way down slowly and grinning back at him and Danny. Matt’s hands were fisted in the sheets, his hips rocking up in aborted stutters. When Jessica had taken all of him inside her, she stopped and leaned forward to kiss him again, her hands sliding up into his hair.

Luke couldn’t stop staring at where she and Matt were joined. When he first started dating Jessica Jones he never would have thought he’d find the site of her fucking another man so damn hot.

“Fuck,” Danny breathed out when she began rocking slowly up and down on Matt. Luke couldn’t agree more.

He moved forward, letting his dick slide between her ass cheeks as she moved up and down on Matt, who was making small noises halfway between a groan and a moan, his hands still gripping the sheets in a death grip. He began to move in a counterpoint to Jessica, his dick sliding up and down her crack.

He could feel Danny moving behind him to do the same to him. Between the nips alternated with kisses being pressed to the crook of his neck and the way Jessica was moaning and panting, he knew he wasn’t going to last long.

He reached around Jessica and pried Matt’s fists from the sheets, bringing them up and putting them on Jessica’s tits.

“Touch her,” he said in a low voice. “I want to see you-“

“Oh fuck,” Matt said, his face screwing up and his hips bucking wildly while Jessica ground down onto him. Sparks of pleasure shot down to his dick as he watched Matt come, and it only took a couple more thrusts before pleasure was surging through him and he was shooting all over Jessica’s back.

Danny groaned and buried his head in his shoulder, coming too while had her fingers between her legs, bringing herself off along with them.

He was never too good at staying awake after a good roll in the hay, and this time was no different.

###

Matt woke up, cold and disoriented, taking a moment to remember where he was. He felt sticky, sweat and fluids mixing around his groin to create an uncomfortable mess. Luke and Jessica and Danny were curled up together on the bed, a blanket over them, and he was on his side on the edge, a good six inches between them.

Oh.

He sat up, unused muscles protesting, and propped his head on his hands. He’d suspected going in that this was going to be a one-time thing. Now he was sure of it. He should have stayed awake and left as soon as they were done, not slept half the night away, taking up room in their bed that they didn’t really have to spare.

He turned his attention to them, wanting to reach out and feel if that was a smile on Danny’s mouth, if Jessica’s hair was as soft as he remembered, if Luke’s unbreakable skin felt any different now that he wasn’t half-crazed with lust. Instead, he quietly stood up and began finding his clothes on the floor and getting dressed.

He would save them the awkward morning after, where they’d try to figure out a way to tell him it was just a fling without hurting his feelings. He viciously pushed away the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he pulled on his pants and found his glasses.

Matt Murdock slipped out of their lives under the cover of the night.

THE END