Chapter Three

Frank was done with the walk through of her apartment after a few moments, her place was minuscule after all, and he seemed to be ignoring her earlier comment.

All she wanted to do was drink the day away, but she was filthy. Her dark dress hid any blood splatter, but her pale skin visible through tears reminded her of those crazy eyes she watched grow empty of life. Karen looked up and saw that Frank had been watching her, seeming to be on the edge of imparting some wisdom on her.

"There's scotch in the freezer." She blurted out and then went to her dresser and pulled out pajamas. "I'm cleaning up as best I can. You'll just have to excuse me. I'll bust out my first aid kit and take a look at you over a glass of scotch."

Frank was unbuttoning his shirt and the mesmerizing movements of his fingers threatened to make her stall. "I'll be right here."

His words gave her goosebumps which was a nice change from the crawling that hadn't left her skin since pulling herself up from on top of that body. Karen spared one last look over her shoulder as he was undoing the straps on his vest before ducking her head shyly and retreating to her bathroom.

With a frustrated groan she managed to peel off her dress. Claire had been able to give her antibiotics and a thorough clean and patch up but she had recommended an actual doctor and a sling. Of course, a doctor would ask questions and fuck those questions.

The stab wound on her same arm was stitched up as well but throbbed like a son of a bitch. All Karen knew right now was that the lack of pain meds was killing her.

As she waited for the water to get near scalding, Karen stretched her hand out into the stream of water and watched as grime and blood rinsed away from her pale skin. At last it was warm enough and she gingerly continued on with the process of feeling clean. It was a good amount of scrubbing before she realized it would take more than one shower before she ever got to feeling clean again.

When she had dried and dressed herself, she came out of the bathroom into her bedroom/kitchen/rest of her apartment still trying to shake off the negative feelings.

Then she saw Frank's bare back as he stood at her sink and it was enough to stop all of her sad thoughts for a moment. He turned and it was a moment before she realized she should be making eye contact, not staring at his chest.

"You found my first aid kit." Karen said, frankly unable to tear her gaze away from the fresh wounds on his chest. Then she noticed the two glasses of scotch on the counter and smiled. Trying not to let his presence deter her, Karen stood at the counter and knocked back the glass of scotch then quickly refilled it. This one she shall sip. Maybe.

"I don't think you should spend your time worrying about me." Frank said and reached for his undershirt that he had draped over his coat and bulletproof vest on one of her kitchen chairs. She sipped on her scotch and watched him cover back up, though at least leaving his arms on display. They were good arms.

He turned to her and she reddened when they made eye contact so she looked away quickly. It would be impossible to guess what Frank was thinking especially when she couldn't sort out her own thoughts. Drinking was an easy thing to do, though, so drink she did.

Well, she couldn't be doing this alone so she picked up Frank's glass of scotch and held it out to him, daring to look up at him again as she said, "It's rude to say no. Probably."

His fingers brushed hers as he took the glass but then he had a seat at her table, easily becoming comfortable in her crowded, tacked-on kitchen and breaking any sense of closeness she thought might have been there. "Why didn't you stay at Murdock's?" Ah, so now the questions begin.

"I needed to get clean," she said shortly.

"Could've cleaned up there." Frank said, giving her that look that said he knew how she felt. If he knew, why did he have to ask? "Could've let Murdock walk you home, too."

"I don't... I didn't." Karen looked into her glass, hoping it would help her find the right words to say what she needed to. "I wasn't ready for Matt to know the real me today." The glass was beckoning her now as the words stumbled out.

"The real you? And who is that?" Frank asked, the sincerity of his voice making her raise her eyes again. When she couldn't stand that, she turned her back to him and had to hold onto the counter as she finished her drink despite the way her world was spinning. Apparently she couldn't handle a few strong drinks on an empty stomach.

Karen reached for the bottle. A hand covered hers, keeping the bottle where it sat and she looked up to see Frank standing at her shoulder. The proximity was a heady thing but she had to wonder what sort of perfect insight he was going to give her now. Her thoughts were of a car crash and a field at night, a night no one really knew about. Today it had become clear to her that it was only a matter of time.

She thought of how she had waited earlier today in the rain as Frank and Matt hid any evidence of the day she had. The worst part of it all had been the silence they sat in until they had been able to contact Claire. She felt untouchable and fragile as the silence became suffocating.

"What is it you're afraid he saw? A monster... or a survivor?" His tone was so soft, it'd be easy to forget it all and just talk to him. Like they did once before, but things were different. By her doing or his, she wasn't sure. She definitely didn't care to dwell on those kinds of dilemmas. Her dilemma right now should be whether to drink in bed or on the couch.

"I don't want questions," she said and gripped the bottle tighter under his grasp. She just knew this gentleness was another facade. Something put up to get to know something from her or for her to do something. "I definitely don't want your opinion on whether or not I'm a monster." She hid her fear and anger under a false laugh and shook his hand off before pouring herself another glass.

"Sure, yeah all you ever want are questions and answers until someone gets close your secrets," Frank's voice was hard now yet he took the smallest step closer to her and she wondered if his world was as fuzzy as hers. "And you'll keep taking risks, won't you? Somehow always ending up in danger."

"I don't do that," Karen said softly, growing angry that he'd brought a reaction out from her.

"I think you do exactly that, because you get a thrill out of it. Don't you? You love the way it makes you shake, Karen. The way it makes you burn. You get your joy, though, from knowing someone in the shadows always comes to your rescue." He was so close to her now and though the smell of him made her heart beat faster and the sound of his voice was made her eyes flutter close for a moment, she didn't like what he was saying to her. She didn't like the way his words made her shake and the way a pleasant feeling crept in her stomach, threatening to prove him right.

"Shut up," she said, slamming her glass on the counter and getting ready to kick Frank out of her apartment. If the floor would just stop tilting.

"Or what?" His breath tickled her ear and she closed her eyes, allowing herself to lean back into his chest. Had he been so close the whole time? The thought made breathing seem a little harder and with each breath it seemed that she felt more of his chest against her. He laid a hand on her right arm at her side and though he was gentle, she could feel the power he had behind that touch. "You gonna hurt me?"

Karen turned to yell at him and push him away, but instead she was holding a fistful of his shirt and kissing him. Maybe he kissed her first, but her mind was fuzzy and full of Frank. How much he infuriated her and how much he made her knees quiver as his tongue darted against her own.

His hands were around her waist and she clung to him. It occurred to her, as he lifted her onto her one counter, she had wanted this for a long time. But she was afraid of this. Her thighs rested against his hips, rubbing against the fabric of his jeans as she ran her fingers through his short black hair. He smelled familiar to her and his fingers felt as rough and gentle as she had imagined they would. Those fingers smoothed up her arm to her collarbone and neck, eliciting a moan from Karen.

Frank broke away for a breath and Karen didn't hesitate to pull the collar of his shirt down and plant small kisses along his neck.

"Karen," he breathed out, his gruff voice bringing a sense of clarity to her. He had one hand on her neck and the other on her waist, fingers finding the soft skin there under her pajama shirt. So it was a difficult thing, but she tried to pay attention as he spoke, "It won't make you feel better. Not really."

Karen leaned back and looked up at him, breathing heavily and trying to think. Which was just the problem, when Frank talked it was frustrating but when he touched her it was peaceful the way it filled her mind with the single thought of him.

It was momentary, but that's what she wanted for tonight. It's what she needed after the day she had.

"I know," she said, afraid to be so vulnerable to him now but she knew it was fleeting. She couldn't take the way those blue eyes looked down at her and so she tilted her head up to nip at his earlobe and whisper, "Just shut up and let me have tonight."

His lips were back on hers and his hands pulled her to him. As Frank carried her from the counter to her bed, Karen's thighs quivered with excitement. He laid her down and his hands smoothed down across her stomach, pushing her shirt up just enough to caress her skin.

Frank's touch sent her skin on fire and as he planted hot open mouthed kisses on her neck she knew that this is what she wanted. Maybe she could carry on blaming him for whatever later, but today he made her feel alive and she craved that more than anything. Karen pulled at his shirt and he happily obliged, leaning back and ridding himself of the offensive clothing.

Trying to sit up smoothly with one good arm, Karen rubbed a hand over his chest. He had a tattoo over his heart with his family's names, something he had gotten before...

Those were troubling thoughts and Karen didn't want those so she kissed Frank's chest. When her lips brushed against a nipple, a gasp came from Frank and all she could do was smirk as she flicked her tongue against it and felt his hands shiver the tiniest bit.

Frank's hands were impatient as he pulled her pajama top off and then he had his fingers hooked on the waistband of her pajama bottoms. A moment of uncertainty seemed to pass over Frank and so Karen laid back on her covers and helped strip herself of the shorts. Then he simply stood there, looking down at her with a look on his face she'd seen once or twice but forbid herself to place it then. She reached a hand to him and the look changed to hunger as he took her hand and came back to her.

He kissed his way down her neck and chest. The sight of him planting his sweet kisses on her breasts made her head feel weak and she had to lay back and close her eyes for a moment. His lips traveled further down until he was planting his hot kisses on her inner thighs and she couldn't hold in her whimpers.

Frank's boldness left her no time to feel less than confident with this and when his perfect mouth finally settled on her clit she could only gasp. His tongue stroked her with purpose and she had to grip a handful of his hair just to feel as much of him as she could.

As he licked her, she was sure he was going to make her come undone. The feel of his hands on her and his hair that tickled her thighs, it was all too much. She realized she was whispering her name and bit her lip

A feeling in her stomach was making Karen's toes curl and just when she was close, Frank trailed his kisses back up her stomach and replaced his tongue with gentle fingers. It felt like he was just teasing her as his teeth played at a nipple. She moaned and pulled at his jeans, her anticipation soon giving way to frustration as she said random syllables meant to be curse words.

Slowly, he unbuttoned his pants and smirked as her eager hands hurried the process along and pushed them down over his waist. When he rolled onto his back to get them off all the way, Karen seized the moment to assert herself and keep him in her mercy under her. He had a taste to him that she realized was her and she moaned into his mouth, letting him pull her on top her. The way he pulled her to him, met every kiss and touch with fierceness... it made her weak and exhilarated all at once.

His hands gripped her waist and though she had wanted to dominance of being on top, she felt powerless as he lifted her by the hips and rubbed the tip of his cock on her already teased clit.

"Oh, please Frank," she let the whimper out. A groan came from him and he rolled her back under him. Her long legs easily stretched over his shoulders as he finally entered her. The look on his face was wonderful and she thrust her hips up to meet his, loving the noises he was making and the way his arms were trembling.

His lips were on her neck. Her hands on his shoulders. Karen realized her moans were bordering on loud and hardly noticed the bed frame pounding against the wall. All she cared to notice was the feeling of Frank and the way that glorious feeling of falling apart beneath him was crashing back.

His movements were growing rapid and she hoped it was because she was making him feel the same way. Frank looked in her eyes and reached down to gently caress her cheek. Karen turned her head and captured his thumb between her teeth. Keeping his gaze through half lidded eyes, she flicked her tongue over the tip before taking the whole thing between her soft lips. He groaned and reached his other hand down between them, rubbing his free thumb against her clit.

It was enough and Karen's head fell back as she quivered around him and a wonderful, shaky feeling of great release crashed through her. She held onto Frank as he finished soon after and listened to the sweet noises he made deep in his throat, wanting to always remember the sound of them.

Her eyes were heavy as Frank laid beside her, resting his forehead against hers. So she smiled at him and closed her eyes, hoping she could feel this peaceful forever...

Karen woke up, having to pee and needing a drink of water worse than anything. When she climbed back into her bed, she saw a glass of water and two aspirin on her nightstand and she realized none of that had been a sexy dream. His drink was even untouched on her table.

She looked at her poorly patched windows and sighed at the sun peeking through. It was too early for her to have to deal with things like emotions or the thought of Frank Castle leaving in the night and so Karen laid down and tried very hard not to freak out about life.

Of course he left, she reasoned, he has a night job. Probably why he didn't drink.

...And it was all momentary.

Her head hurt and she felt like a fool. Of course, Frank couldn't hide behind the excuse of alcohol like she was going to but that wasn't her problem.

Her problem was that she spent the rest of the morning under her covers, feeling sick and cold and stupid.

As it seemed that Frank Castle was going to avoid her over the next few days, Karen Page avoided Matt Murdock. His phone calls and emails. Of course, she listened to his voice mail and read his emails and she felt like a terrible person the whole time. She knew that Foggy was busy with his new job and Matt was lonely, but she was a wreck over the thought of talking to him.

Matt left a message one day saying that he had gotten to the bottom of her followers with a help of a friend and that he was taking care of things. Still, he would appreciate a phone call from her.

The next phone call was from Ellison and she answered it right away, hopeful that he could forgive and forget. She tried to lie and say she just needed some time to get over some stuff but Ellison seemed to just know certain things. Everyone always seemed to know things she didn't and she really couldn't idle on that and let that infuriate her right now.

As Ellison accused her of playing with fire and getting herself in dangerous situations again, Karen thought of Frank's lips on her chest. She closed her eyes and sighed, a relaxed feeling washing over her as her boss said things she hated to hear.

She responded with many a "Yes sir" and "No sir" and a "Can I work from home for a few days?"

When she was off the phone with Ellison, she breathed a sigh of relief that she at least still had a job, she would just have to keep a cap on her emtional outbursts.

She spent the next few weeks healing and diving into her work, finally letting herself be a reporter without the distractions of Matt or Frank. Her shoulder healed without much of a problem but left a rather nasty scar she wasn't too happy about. That really put a damper on summer dress season.

When she woke up in the mornings, she thought less and less of Frank as she lied in bed. She told herself she had to be okay without him. If he was really still in the city helping Daredevil, he was apparently staying away from her. Which was what she needed... if she was going to live a normal life. And normal was achievable, right? Normal was... wanted.

But Karen missed the fire.

The weather was getting warmer and Karen started jogging at night after the day got too suffocating. It helped her to put her loneliness out of her mind. She listened to music loudly, blasting away thoughts of Frank and that night.

It was a warm summer night when Karen ended up outside Matt's gym, already covered in a thin layer of sweat. He had told her about the gym he went to at night when when she had to question how he managed to keep up on his training to be a bad ass. It had been on her mind recently and she had passed it a few nights the last week already, but now she stood with her hands on her hips. She closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing in through her nose and steadily out her lips.

Her unpublished story had been something else on her mind recently and though she was doing just fine without it, she hated the thought of those people's stories being untold. She hated the thought that people felt the need to protect her, to keep her from doing things for her own good. It crossed her mind that she could be dangerous as well.

Karen walked up to the door and peered inside through the foggy glass, knowing it was locked so no one could bother him. It was hard to see, but she could tell it was Matt in there. The way he moved as he struck the punching bag was unmistakable. When she tapped on the glass, she wondered if he already knew she was there.

When his movements stopped, she stepped away from the glass so she didn't seem like a creeper. She heard his footsteps coming closer and realized she was probably going to be super stinky to him. When the door didn't open right away, Karen spoke up, "It's Karen."

The door opened and she noticed he had his glasses off as she walked in. All the easier to see the many bruises on his face. He's been busy and it made her feel terrible again, knowing that she had pulled away while he was out on the streets risking his life. She wondered if Frank was helping him but she didn't come here to think about that. It was obviously just something fleeting that wasn't going to be worth dwelling on anymore.

"You've been busy?" Karen asked, hating how small her voice sounded in the large gym.

"I tried calling you. I didn't know you'd prefer to talk here." Matt said, his voice betraying the hurt he felt from her absence. Karen tried not to stammer or fidget or do anything stupid but talking to Matt was proving much harder than she had imagined.

"I thought I should heal before hanging out with your type again," Karen said, figuring it was a truth. Not the whole truth, but she felt like it wrapped everything up nicely.

Matt gave her a half smile that seemed to melt her nerves away, "'My type,' huh?"

Karen put her hand on the cool leather of the punching bag he had been trying to destroy, or train with, and she wondered how he could still smile at her like that.

"Yeah," she said. "Everyone keeps telling me how much trouble I'm always in. Which is why I came here to you. I want you to train me to defend myself."

Matt didn't even break his stride as he was walking to the boxing ring. The look on his face was unreadable and he jumped to sit on the edge. After a moment, he finally said, "Training you - and by the way I don't know how to do anything like that, or if my schedule would allow it - but training you wouldn't keep you out of harm. It'll just give you an excuse, Karen, I'm not stupid."

Karen's cheeks felt hot as she put her hands on her hips, "So what, I should just hang out with you but go on being helpless and in the way?"

Matt shook his head, "That's never been the case."

When it became clear he wasn't going to help her, Karen turned with a huff and headed towards the door. She didn't get very far when a hand grasped her arm and stopped her. She turned to see Matt standing there with a very troubled look on his face.

"What if I said yes? You'd have to hang out with me nearly every other night if not more and I have a hard time believing you could commit to that," His words seemed to be taunting but she couldn't help but feel hopeful. Karen was searching for the right thing to say when he nodded his head towards the equipment. "Just come with me, already, before you disappear again."