A/N: Hey, now I'm back to do something crazy again!

Like for example challenging myself to write a chapter a day and post them until Christmas. So yeah I don't know if any of you guys are up to go for it but why not? let's write a chapter of pure domestic fluff for our favorite fictional pair of any fandom until Christmas! ( if you're going for it, let me know)

I'm gonna dedicate this work to Karen Page and Frank Castle only cause I hated season 2 of the punisher and how they ended things with Karen and Frank! And I'm gonna pretend that Frank went after Karen at the end of season 1 and they started a healthy nice, comfortable relationship! ( I may add the only good things in season 2 later though like Amy cause I liked her)

So um... yeah that's pretty much it!

I'm accepting prompts too! Let's see if I can keep it up until Christmas or not!

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,
Your appreciative author
Ellie

Karen was a busy woman. In between coming up with good stories and writing articles eloquently enough before deadlines to get Ellison's attention (which I might add wasn't as difficult as it may have sounded at all, cause pretty much everything Karen wrote was an attention grabber for Ellison); she didn't have any time worrying over secretive lying vigilantes or stubborn, thickheaded ones. Somehow though it almost felt like she was falling back into bad habits. Spending the afternoons getting drunk and scrolling down the news pages to find out if they have found the body of a certain red devil or an ex-marine corps-turned serial killer left in an empty dark back alley yet or not.

Nothing; usually meant good news and it would allow her to have a quick smoke on the balcony. Something, even vague, meant she had to dig deeper on her own. Which still let her have a cigar or two or… more (depending on how much time it'd take her to find a trustworthy source to confirm the news) but not as peaceful.

Nothing on the devil of the Hell's Kitchen, today.

She just had to take a deep breath out of relief, knowing that Matt was probably fine; at least he was up until yesterday morning when she saw him in one piece, inviting her to have coffee with her. Of course, she was still mad at him but it wasn't exactly like she wasn't trying to work on the forgiving part and it came with a lot more than usual worrying and caring. Frank on the other hand…

Fuck. She didn't want to think about him. She even actively tried to wipe him from her memories completely but that man was a force to reckon with. It was like even when they'd officially claimed that he was dead, he wasn't really. Like back at the docks when Karen was pretty much the only person who could just not fully believe that someone like Frank Castle could be killed off so easily. Yet… it didn't mean her heart didn't shatter into pieces the moment she saw the wild flames reaching up to the dark sky and the scattered burnt bodies piled up in there. And then after… when she saw that he was as a matter of fact alive but still more vengeful than ever …and… after as a hipster derelict in the busy streets of New York City-

It was as if he was always there somehow, in the shadows or just hidden in plain sight. Which was absurdly paradoxical for the kind of man he was.

And somehow after all that thinking about Matt didn't feel as frustrating as Frank. Karen knew how she felt about Matt Murdock, she loved him as a good friend and of course, she felt betrayed when she realized he was the daredevil himself but Frank—

He was different. She didn't know what to feel about him, how to even feel about him. She liked him in a way that hurt as if it didn't matter if she heard he was dead or saw that he was still alive, her heart would break for him anyway.

And now he was gone again.

There was news of a gunfight near the carousel Frank lost his family at. No detailed police reports were made public though. Somehow she knew it was him. And it was almost a month ago. Where was he now? Was he really dead this time? The thought sent a surge of immense sadness through her heart; she could feel her chest physically aching, the kind of pain you sense when you lose someone close, someone, like a family.

Shaking her head, she realized smoking alone wasn't going to help her troubles away. She needed fresh air. So snatching her keys and phone, she put her jacket on, and then at the last minute as she was walking past the closet near the exit door, she stopped, chewing on her bottom lip before picking up her trustworthy Llama III-A, 4th series - .380 ACP pistol. Especially at this time of the night, she couldn't be too careful without it.

Too much thinking for the evening, enough was enough she would walk to the Josie's to have a drink, maybe two or three, and when she got too drunk to care about anything else she'd call Foggy, not that he'd answer but at the very least she could try to get a hang of a friend, a normal one anyway.

Yeah. That's the plan. She thought scoffing to herself before flinging the door open—

"Hey, Karen."

The deep voice, husky with tough edges tugged at it couldn't belong to anybody else but him.

Frank Castle once again proved everybody wrong. The first reaction though that he got from Karen other than the widened eyes and involuntarily gasps of confusion was elation and relief coursing through her. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes and she had to sniff and wipe them away before embarrassing herself further by outright crying in his face.

"You're alive." It came out a little too whispery than she wished for but with him hanging his head and then looking up, almost shyly at her, she realized that perhaps he ought to be more embarrassed than her to time and time again pretend like he was either dead or gone forever.

"Yeah… yeah I'm alive Karen. I'm so sorr—" His voice cracked and damn her if she let him continue like that. She both wanted to slap and hug him but she chose the latter by taking a step closer and pulling him into a tight embrace, burying her face into a crook of his neck. She felt him bring one hand up to stroke her hair in comfort. He smelled like soap and faint cologne. So good, so familiar. And as much as Karen wanted to stay like that long, she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable so she pulled back after a while, standing crossed arms on the threshold looking at his clean-shaven face.

The lines of concern carved on his forehead with the crowfeet in the corners of his eyes sat there like the old soldier he was still, complete with the faint bruises on his right cheek and the corner of his chin, displaying what he'd been through all this time.

Still handsome though in so many ways, she thought for a split second and then shook her head feeling now anger boiling mixed with the happiness inside, thinking back to the last time he came to her and she was stupid enough to think that he was there just to… just to what? What did Frank want from him this time? What was Frank to her other than a troublesome friend? even if he was a friend at all.

"Came here looking for help to find another ghost in town?" She didn't mean to sound bitter, not right now at least but words left her mouth without her knowing. She was pissed at him and she wanted him to know that. Karen was never one to hide what was in her mind for too long anyway.

"No…" he shook his head, now looking up with shimmering eyes, almost like he cared. "It's not…it's not like that." Karen believed that. Frank was many things but a liar.

"What then? I thought you were dead. Like really dead this time."

"I came to see you, a'right?" He said pointing at Karen's boots and purse, " Don't wanna bother you or anything, I can just… " He paused, then finally showed the hand he'd been hiding behind his back the whole time, holding a bouquet of – this time- fresh red roses. "Bought you these, thought maybe… " He shrugged, laughing awkwardly" Maybe you like roses?"

"Yeah," She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hands, breaking into another smile, still bitter, "I'm sure my front window would love them!" She sniffed, glancing up at Frank who visibly winced at that.

"They're for you Karen… for ah…" Another shrug, "consider it as an apology and… well a thank you for everything."

They smelled nice, Karen had to at least give him that. He knew how to subside the fury in a girl. "Well, apology's accepted."

Clicking his tongue Frank gave her a playful wink, "Mission's accomplished then." He sobered quickly though, "It's always nice to see you, Karen." He said, taking a step back, ready to take off, Karen thought, ready to run away again.

"Frank!" She called, making him look over his shoulder, surprised.

"Would you like some coffee?"

"I ah…" looking around he acknowledged, "I thought you were going out."

Smiling. She was not going to letting him go off easy now. Not without an explanation. "Not anymore."