A sequel fic to season 1 of Iron Fist (2017) and interquel with The Defenders (2017).
Since the events of season 1, Ward Meachum has been struggling with addiction and is on the path to self-destruction. Joy decides to stage an intervention to prevent Ward from destroying his life or interfering with Rand. Ward is stunned to find his sister has hired a rehabilitation specialist to get him clean, with the threat of losing Rand over his head should he refuse.
That specialist is Soraya Ebadi, who has numerous clients of varying wealth and social status, and finds her entire life turned upside down when she enters Ward's life, as she becomes embroiled in a world of powered people, ancient organizations, death threats, and violence.
It can be read here
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Tropes present in this work include
- Back from the Dead: Bakuto is back from the dead and his portion of the Hand really wants to get back their drug trafficking through Rand.
- The Cameo:
- Tony Stark is one of Soraya's old clients and offers to upgrade Rand's security to stop the first virus payload Bakuto has sent to Soraya.
- Soraya hires Foggy Nelson to defend her when Jade tries to sabotage her career.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Soraya's family immigrated to the United States when she was 12 to escape The War on Terror. She had a brother who became an addict due to Al-Qaeda forcing him to work in the poppy fields and paying him in heroin. Her brother's addiction got worse once they were in New York City, and he turned to burglary to get money for his habit, which culminated in him being shot to death by a homeowner who caught him in the house.
- A Day in the Limelight: Ward is the central protagonist for this work.
- Declaration of Protection: Ward promises to Soraya that he'll do everything he can to protect her once he's aware that Bakuto and the Hand are threatening her.
- Faux Affably Evil: Bakuto speaks with a jovial tone of voice, and loses it when people speak against him.
- Half-Truth: Ward and Joy initially begin with these around Soraya, since they think that she's not going to believe them if they tell her the truth about Harold's resurrection. They quickly come to realize that it's in their best interests to tell Soraya the truth, since doctor-patient privilege will protect them.
- I Have Your Wife: On their return to New York City, Ward and Soraya are abruptly captured by the Hand. Once Elektra captures Danny, she threatens their lives to get him to go along with her.
- Interquel: The events of the fic get woven into the back half of The Defenders (2017), resulting in a slightly different timeline. Not much is changed of that show, but a few details are changed: Elektra has Ward injected with heroin to coerce Danny into helping her. When the rest of the group arrives at Midland Circle, Matt directs Luke to rescue Soraya and Ward before they go down into the pit to grab Danny.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure:
- This is the general type of threat Bakuto tends to use on Soraya, threatening the well-being of her parents, and using the threat of harm to Soraya on Ward.
- Elektra makes Danny watch a henchman inject a syringe of a drug into Ward and threatens to give Soraya the same treatment.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Soraya's reaction when Bakuto shows up while she's having lunch with her parents.
- Danny's reaction when Elektra shows him a captive Ward and Soraya.
- Poor Communication Kills: Danny is so preoccupied getting Colleen to the precinct that he fails to warn Ward about Sowande's threats, allowing them capture Ward and Soraya.
- Retcon: Due to slight timeline rewrites, Colleen learns from Soraya about Bakuto still being alive before the events of The Defenders, instead of only learning this when she, Luke and Danny are moving Claire to the precinct. The events of the climax at Midland Circle are the same, aside from Luke taking a brief detour to get Ward and Soraya out of the building.
- You Didn't Ask: Soraya knows someone who can tell them what's on the flashdrive Bakuto wants Soraya to install on Ward's computer. So they find themselves outside Stark Tower, prompting:Ward Meachum: You failed to mention your friend was Tony Stark.Soraya Ebadi: You didn't ask.Ward Meachum: I did. You just avoided the question.
