BACKSTORY: This story takes place some months after the events in Iron Fist.  Detective Misty Knight  is called by her aunt,  Kathy Wilkins, after the suicide of her uncle, Rand Executive and board member, Lawrence Wilkins.  Kathy does not believe that her husband of thirty years killed himself in his office, late one night. She asks Misty to look into it.

Misty reluctantly agrees to help put her aunt’s mind to rest,  not because she necessarily disagrees with her.  She is hesitant, because she has her own past with Rand Enterprises, in the form of Ward Meachum.  And with all that she has been through recently with the loss of her partner, and an injured arm that is still healing, Misty is not up to dealing with the oldest Meachum heir.

But she does so.  And her visit to Rand Enterprises will change her life forever...

Misty stopped to get coffee from a vendor, before heading towards Rand Enterprises.  She had managed to get an appointment with Danny Rand,  the newly returned billionaire.  Misty recalled reading about  him on some online site and she had to admit that for a billionaire,  he seemed to be one of the most completely, unselfish human beings she had ever run across in her life--with the exception of her late father.

But who knew if that was just  an act for the public?  No one knew much about where Danny Rand had been, the eighteen years he had been missing. He told some story about being raised by monks in some part of China.   Misty paid the vendor and sipped her coffee.  None of that had anything to do with what she needed to speak to him about.   And there was a part of her that wondered if she was wasting her time talking to Mr. Rand.  After all,  he probably barely knew her Uncle Lawrence.

Ward is who she probably should talk to.  But even after all of this time, Misty could not make herself even think about him.  She was just glad it was Danny she would be speaking to.  Hopefully, Ward wouldn’t even be in the office.

Misty slowly began the trek towards Rand Enterprises, when someone bumped into her, almost making her spill  her coffee! She was about to say something not so polite, when she saw the person that had run into her was none other than Claire Temple.

“Claire?”  Misty asked, more than a bit surprised to see her around this part of New York.

“Misty! How have you been?” Claire asked brightly.  And that surprised Misty.  The last time she saw her,  Luke Cage was being unjustly carted back off to prison and she sensed that Claire and him had become close.

“I’ve been better. How about yourself?  What do you hear from Luke?”  Misty asked carefully, gauging whether he was a sore subject.  But Claire’s bright vibe continued.

“He had a good lawyer.   One that can free him.”  Claire said firmly.  

“Really?” Misty asked, almost believing her.  It wasn’t that she didn’t, it was just that Luke’s situation seemed hopeless.  He had murdered someone at one time and barely served any time when he became ‘special’ and escaped.

“Yes.  I mean if this guy can’t get him out, no one can.”

Misty glanced around.

“So is that why you’re here? is Luke’s lawyer here in Manhattan?”

“Actually, his lawyer is Matt Murdock.”

Misty frowned.

“He’s the one that defended Frank Castle?”  

Claire cleared her throat.

“Yes.”

Misty was about to ask her why the hell she’d ask a man like that, to help Luke, but she decided to leave it alone.   Claire used her silence to ask her a couple of questions.

“What about you?  What brings you up this way?”

“Well, my uncle died.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well it’s a little more complicated than that.  He killed himself in his office.  My uncle was not the suicidal type and my aunt asked me to look into it.  I’m just going to talk to some people to see if I can give her some peace of mind.” Misty confided.

“Pardon me for saying this, but you seem as if you’re dreading it.  Were you close?  Your uncle and you?” Claire asked.

Misty gave her a look of surprise.

“No.  No we were not. It’s just that where he worked, was a place I once worked at...for like six months...I’m just hoping that when I get there, things will be simple.”

“Well I hope they are, Misty.  I have to get going.  I have an appointment across town.  It was really good seeing you again.”  

Misty smiled.

“It was good seeing you too.”  she said and began to walk away.  She dumped her coffee, not because she no longer wanted it,  but because her arm ached.   Misty had been going to physical therapy but somehow, getting her arm back physically to where it once was, seemed to be slow going.

She could see Rand Enterprises across the street.  With a deep breath, she moved amongst the crowd of people moving through the crosswalk.

Misty’s appointment turned out to be as nightmarish as she hoped it wouldn’t be, from the get go.

Danny was running late and she was turned over to Ward Meachum, who she pretended to be meeting for the first time in front of his secretary.

But Ward just refused to play along....

“Detective Knight, really?  Are we going to play this game?”

Misty’s eyes slid over to the secretary, who stared at her curiously.  Misty cleared her throat and responded.

“Hello, Ward.  Nice to see you again.  I could just wait for Mr. Rand...”

“Mr. Rand barely knew Lawrence.  I am the one you should have made this appointment with.”  Ward said firmly.

“I made the appointment with the person I thought would tell me the truth.”   Misty replied coolly.  Ward could feel his secretary’s curiosity beating down on the both of them and decided to quickly switch gears.

“Let’s go into my office, Detective Knight.”  Ward said and began walking.  Misty reluctantly followed after him, feeling more and more like forgetting this whole thing.  But her aunt’s face came to mind.  Misty had to be able to tell her that she had tried.

Ward let her walk through his door first, before following her in and slamming the door behind him!  The sound was loud, purposely so and Misty tried not to flinch. Ward walked around to his desk and sat down.  He noted that Misty was still standing.

“Have a seat, Mercedes.”

Now,  Misty went from being highly uncomfortable to angry!

“My name is....”

“Mercedes!” he said in a sing song voice.  “This ‘Misty’ crap is a nick name.  Your uncle never called you that.”

“My uncle...look, Ward, I go by Misty.  And ‘Detective’.  And I’m not going to bullshit around here.  My uncle suddenly kills himself, after your father conveniently shows back up alive?  Something about that seems off.”

“Lawrence tried to take Rand from Joy, Danny and myself.  He turned our board against us.  Then my father returned and he knew there was no place for him.  Rand had been Lawrence’s whole life.  You know that.”  Ward said calmly, as he appraised her. His eyes roamed up and down her form, but Misty forced herself to ignore his invading stare and sit down.

“I heard about that. My uncle could overstep.  I’m sorry about that. But he didn’t deserve to die because of it.”

“I’m not saying he did.  But neither Danny, Joy or myself, would know anything about WHY your uncle took his life.  We literally weren’t here.  We had been kicked out of our offices. I have  no idea what his state of mind was.  Danny didn’t  know him at all and was dealing with personal issues.  My sister had found out that our father was still alive.  So I think your wasting your time.”  Ward said matter-of-factly.

But Misty actually leaned back into her chair and eyed him.

“So your father’s coming back to life had to be a shock for you too?  And my uncle?” Misty said.  “What was his reasoning for faking his death?”

“My father didn’t fake his death.  He just went away to find a cure for his cancer.”

“So you knew he was alive and trying to cure himself?”  Misty asked knowingly.  Ward leaned forward.

“I think we should drop this topic and catch up on old times.  I know I read something about you and that Luke Cage guy....”

The door to the office opened and Danny walked in, looking quite the opposite of Ward.  Meaning positive and upbeat.

“Detective Knight?  Sorry to keep you waiting.  I had business out of the building that could not wait.”  Danny said, smiling.   Misty stood up and smiled at him.  For a man that had been living with monks for fifteen years,  Mr. Rand cleaned up nicely.

“Mr. Rand, hello.  I was just talking to Mr. Meachum here about my uncle’s suicide.”

“Then he must have told you that it wasn’t a suicide?”  Danny asked innocently.  Ward coughed! Jesus, Danny! He just HAD to tell the truth about everything, didn’t he?

Misty’s eyes widened! She was not expecting to hear that!

“What do you mean, Mr. Rand?”  Misty asked carefully.

“He doesn’t mean anything, Mercedes!  Danny is just....”

Misty turned from Danny and faced Ward.

“Do not call me that again, are we clear?”

Ward didn’t answer. Misty turned back to Danny, who now looked confused.

“Your name is Detective Misty Knight, right?”

“It is.  Now what did you mean by what you just said?”

Danny could feel Ward’s death glare but he chose to ignore it.

“I always suspected that Harold Meachum killed your uncle.  To get control of the company.  But I can’t prove it.”  Danny admitted.

Misty nodded. She believed Danny Rand. And he was the only man in this room she did believe.  She was about to ask him something else, when her phone buzzed.  She pulled it of of her blazer pocket and looked at the text she had received.

I can tell you who killed your uncle.  Meet me on the roof

The text didn’t have a name or number attached to it, which made it all the more sinister.  Someone, that was up on the roof of this company,  was claiming that they could give her the answers she wanted to know. Did she go up there or stay here and try and weasel some sort of confession out of Danny and Ward?

Misty decided to take her chances on the roof.

“Is there a problem?”  Ward asked.  

“No.  Thank you both for your time.  Thank you, Mr. Rand.  Good luck to you.” Misty told him,  walking past him and out of the door.   Once it was closed,  Danny turned to Ward.

“What am I missing?”  he asked.

“What do you mean?”  Ward asked, walking back behind his desk.

“I mean something was going on in here.  And Detective Knight hates your guts.  Why did you call her that other name?”  

Ward sighed.

“I’ll tell you about it.  One day.”  Ward said, just as Colleen entered the office. Danny turned to smiled at her.  They had become closer than ever, ever since she had helped him take down  Madam Gao and witnessed the senseless carnage that had taken place in K’un-Lun.

“Who was that woman that left here just now?” Colleen asked.

“She was a police detective.  Why?”  Danny asked.

“She left this office and made a bee line for the roof.  I think something is going on.”  Colleen told them. Danny hurried out of the office with Colleen close on his heels.  Ward frowned, then stood up and exited the office as well, remembering the text Mercedes had received.  

Misty slowly stepped on to the roof, her gun drawn.  She saw no one.  At least not right away.  It was not until the roof door closed and she walked around a corner, that she spied an elderly Asian woman, up on one of the ledges!

Misty holstered her gun and slowly made her way towards the woman. Where was the person that had information for  her? Maybe they had been scared away when this woman came up here and attempted to jump off?

“Ma’am, whatever is going on in your life, it isn’t so bad that you have to take you own life.”  Misty said, easing towards the woman that was Madam Gao.  “Just give me your hand and I’ll help you down.”

Oddly, the woman grinned at her!

“Oh no, my dear.  I am in no need of help. But it is kind of  you to offer.”

Misty gave her the once over. This woman had to be in her 80’s, maybe?  And yet she was very composed, calm and unafraid.

It was also clear to Misty that this was who sent the text.

“You summoned me up here.  What do you know?” she asked in a no nonsense tone.

“Nothing that you need to know, Detective.  Your future lies elsewhere.”

Misty raised a brow. She didn’t have time for this shit!

“Okay, I am going to get security to come and help you down.  I’m also going to ignore how you wasted my time here.  I don’t know how you got my number but don’t text or call me again with your bullshit.”  

Madam Gao calmly stepped off of the ledge and walked up to her.

“My dear, Detective Knight.  What you call ‘bullshit’, I refer to as your chosen path.  Have you ever heard of the ‘Iron Fist’?”

Misty’s eyes grew huge!  That sounded more than a bit dirty!

“I’m taking you in my damned self! How dare you call me up here for this shit! I’m in the middle of a murder case here!”  Misty snapped,  trying to figure out how this pervy woman set her sights on her?

Madam Gao ignored her tirade and reached for her hands.

“Your late uncle knew that his hard work for us would be undone.  His son was not fit to protect what he had built here at Rand.  You were his last hope. We came to an agreement.”

Misty blinked.

“You’re saying you knew my uncle?”  she asked, just as Madame Gao’s hands closed over hers and her body felt like it was going to explode!  She promptly slumped to the ground, passed out.   

Moments later,  Ward, Danny and Colleen found Misty lying on the roof of Rand Enterprises, unconscious. Madam Gao was nowhere in sight but clearly someone had been  up here with Detective Knight.  Because while Misty succumbed to darkness, she was unaware that both of her hands resembled Danny’s singular, Iron Fist.