Tony immediately bristled and sprang to his feet.
"Hey, Bat, quit poaching. This is New York, and Daredevil is a New York superhero. Have you forgotten whose turf this is? The Avengers', obviously. Even if he joins a team, it should be ours. You, little red-horned devil, come join me. I'll cover your gear, plus a salary and allowances. And that little law firm of yours? Stark Industries can invest in it."
He talked tough and put every effort into recruiting, but he still felt guilty about losing the child. He focused entirely on persuading Daredevil, never once glancing Batman's way.
Batman merely gave him a cool glance, his tone perfectly even. "The Justice League can offer everything he mentioned. And I believe you understand as well as I do that you and I are different."
With both major teams extending an olive branch at once, even Matt, who had always refused to bow to the rich and powerful, found himself tempted to bend a little.
Of all the professions, law was already a respectable and well-paid one. He was good at his job and should, by rights, have lived more comfortably than most. Yet Matt insisted on defending only the truly innocent and refused to show the wealthy and influential any deference, naturally offending plenty of people. And clients who could barely afford to live could hardly pay much in legal fees.
Much of the time, Matt's tiny law firm actually lost money providing legal services. That was why his partner and close friend, Foggy, always looked at him with such exasperation:
"Matt, we can't take on any more pro bono cases. I know our clients are good people, but so what? We're barely keeping ourselves afloat. Remember? Law school taught us to enter a moral vacuum so we