He had brought her coffee. It was a simple gesture, nothing special. He had seen that she had been up late the night before working on a story and knew she would need an extra boost to start her day. The fact that he knew her well enough to get her the right type of coffee was just something friends knew about each other, at least that is what he told himself. He came in through the fire escape just as she was putting on her shoes.

The sun was shining through her blonde hair as it fell over her shoulder, giving it a glow that was like nothing else on earth. She smiled at him as she stood and suddenly everything became crystal clear to him. He set the coffee down on her dresser and took her in his arms and kissed her. It was gentle at first, but when he felt her sigh and lean into him it became more firm. he didn't rush it or push too far, she deserved a little romance in her life and he was more than willing to give it to her. Her arms came up and wrapped around his shoulders as he felt all her desires rush out into the kiss, matching his own.

When they finally parted, not moving from each others arms, he kept his eyes closed for a moment as she spoke, "I feel all tingly."

"Yeah, that was nice." He sighed and slowly opened his eyes to look at her. She didn't look like he thought she would. Her face was drawn in concern, "Not like that Frank, something is wrong." Her face suddenly went wide in shock and fear as she stepped back from him, staring at her hand.

He saw then what she saw, and couldn't understand it. She was literally disintegrating in front of him. "No! No, no! Karen!"

"Frank, what's happening to me? Oh god Frank!" he tried to grab her but his fingers went right through where her shoulders had been a moment before. He stared in shock as she became nothing more then ash at his feet. He screamed until he had no breath left in his body.

It didn't take long before he was up and out of the apartment the way he had come in. He headed straight to the only other person he could think of that might have some ideas about what happened. He made his way silently through the streets but couldn't help but notice an abundance of ash floating around his feet everywhere he went. People were crying, sirens were blaring, it was like the end of the world.

None of it mattered, only she mattered.

He made his way up to the loft apartment he had seen Red slink into at the end of more than one night patrol. the door was open so he made his way in, "Choir boy! We have a situation."

He expected Matt Murdock to start giving him a lecture on proper etiquette when entering someone's home. What he wasn't expecting was to find a dark haired woman in a leather jacket standing over a very familiar looking pile of ash on the floor. "He's gone. He's just gone."

"Shit. What the hell is going on?" Frank was at a loss, Red was his best bet for answer or at least someone to bust heads with him till they found one.

The woman finally looked up at him, "That's a damn good question. I came up here to yell at him for swinging past on my stake out last night and spooking the mark and he just turned to dust right in front of me." Sudden realization dawned on the woman's face, "Wait, you're Frank Castle aren't you? The Punisher, isn't that what the papers call you? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Me and red were old friends, well maybe not friends but we had an understanding of sorts." Frank was looking around the loft for anything that might explain things when the door swung open again. This time it was Matt's lawyer buddy.

He was looking frazzled and was not calmed by the site he found in front of him. "Frank? Jessica? Where's Matt?" Frank and the woman in the leather jacket gestured silently to the pile of ash on the floor. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I came by too talk to him." Jessica said simply.

"Karen." Frank spoke her name and Foggy's face fell, "She's gone too. Came looking for answers."

"Shit. I don't know what answers any of us are going to get to this. It's happening all over, the news says it might be like fifty percent of the population." Foggy was pacing now.

"Fifty percent of the city?" Jessica asked.

"Fifty percent of the planet." It was insane, how could Frank fight something that could do something like that.

"I really need to hit something right now." Frank grumbled, his hands pulling into fists.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea." Jessica agreed.

Foggy really didn't want to encourage them to violence but also couldn't blame them for how they were feeling. His two closest friends were just gone, he wanted to fight the world to get them back. "Well, there is an incredible amount of looting going on right now."

Frank raised an eyebrow, "Well that doesn't sound very neighborly."

Jessica crossed her arms and looked at Frank, "Nope, maybe we should go teach them a lesson."

"Agreed."