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He can just about bear it up here, in the dark, high above the city, the layer of scum that presides, just a little thinner than it is on the ground. Not too many people bother him up on the roof tops, and if he looks up at the night sky, it almost feels like he's somewhere else entirely, the rage in his heart quieted by the soothing nature of the stars. But the time has nearly come for him to leave Hell's Kitchen, and he's traveling light compared to normal, only the essentials - still enough to take down a small army - but still, the essentials.
There's one thing he has to do before he goes, he has to say goodbye to someone he cares about. She'd asked to help him and he'd eventually agreed, reluctantly.
He packs his bag with a ritualistic urgency, waiting for her arrival.
"Hey, Frank."
It's not her voice, it's a man's, he looks up to see a black figure materialise from the shadows on the distant rooftop in front of him, he walks with such an uneasy silence that he jarrs Frank into raising his gun before he's even had a chance to look.
"Red?" He frowns, squinting, still pointing his weapon as sharp as an arrow in his direction, "what happened to the suit?"
"I outgrew it."
Frank half smiles and goes back to the task at hand, kneeling down to finish packing the last of the ammunition into the front compartment of his rucksack.
"What you doing in town Frank?"
There's a tone in Red's voice that makes Frank think he's already feeling impatient about something, "just doin' a little sightseeing, what's it look like Red?"
He smiles,"it looks like, trouble has a habit of following you around."
He looks up to meet his masked gaze, "Trouble doesn't follow me Red. I follow trouble."
Red laughs, "Yeah, maybe, but the woman who came to see you the other day, Karen -" her name grabs his attention and he can't help but stand up to equal Red's stature, "I'm gonna need you to leave her out of whatever it is you're doing."
"Shit Red. You came all the way out here for that?"
"I can't risk her getting hurt, Frank," He says, and he's pretty sure there's a mounting threat buried beneath his concern.
"You know her pretty well huh?"
"She's a friend."
"A friend? Right ." He runs his tongue over his teeth, "you know then, that there's not a damn thing in the world that can make that girl do a thing she doesn't want to."
"It's not about what she wants or doesn't want Frank, it's about what keeps her safe."
"And you're gonna do that, are you?" He smiles, watching Red shuffle on his feet, his stance growing steadily more defensive, "c'mon. I saw the news," Frank adds, "what happened at the church, at that newspaper place?"
"I protected her -" he moves towards him quickly, pointing an accusing finger at his chest, "she would have died if I didn't -"
"Sounds like you attract a fair bit of trouble of your own Red," he turns his back perhaps a little too confidently, putting distance between them.
"I'm warning you Frank," he hisses.
"Oh, what you gonna do? Huh? You gonna make me shoot you in the head again?" He squares up and strides back the way he came, "doesn't look like those pajamas you're wearing are gonna hold up to well against a bullet does it?"
He knows he's said the exact thing that'll get Red to show his hand, anticipating his fist flying towards his face way before it does, dodging sideways, only to plunge his opposite hand into Red's rib cage, the bone flexing against his knuckles. Red exerts a pained breath before he returns a kick to the lower portion of his thigh, buckling his leg, then, a jab that finds the gap between his fists, cutting his lip open, he has to admit, Red hits hard.
"Look at you," he pants" you're angry aren't ya Red? Who is she to you? Huh?" He says as he spits out a mouthful of blood," does she know you're here?"
"No she doesn't, and you're not gonna tell her."
"So it's an honest relationship then?" He quips.
Red sprints towards him so quick he doesn't have a chance in hell of blocking the foot that's heading towards his chest as he leaves the ground. Frank's back hits the floor and in a moment Red's on top of him, locking his arm out against his knee -
"You need to leave," he threatens quietly, and seethingly, through his teeth.
Frank grins through pain as he pushes on the joint in his arm, "you think I'm interested in her, is that it Red? Is that what this is about?" He raises his voice to drive home the point, "who is she to you Red?" Red doesn't answer, instead he pushes harder on his already strained joint and Frank has to swing his leg up to get out of his grasp, catching the back of his knee around his throat, throwing him backwards. He's slow to get up, giving Frank an opportunity to grab him by the shoulders and slam him into the ground - Red's arms are pinned under his knees, he's squirming trying to get free, and he will, soon, there's no doubt, and if he's honest he still doesn't know why they're fighting, but he's in the perfect position to - he considers it -
Fuck it .
He grabs a fistful of the mask that's covering his face and pulls upwards.
" What the fuck ? -" Frank takes a firm grip of Matt's face, turning his head from side to side, " Murdock ? The lawyer ?"
"You're a fucking asshole Frank" Matt spits.
"You've been faking that blind shit this whole time?"
"Nope, last time I checked, still blind," Matt shuffles backwards to sit up against the wall behind him, and now that the mask is off, he sees little point in fighting.
"Bullshit!" Frank backs off too," I watched you Red. A guy that can't see doesn't fight like that."
Matt directs his eyes up at the sky in a show of exasperation, "it's.. complicated ."
"You his twin or somethin'?"
"Oh, that's a new one," Matt's smile splits his cheeks while he takes a moment to fluff up his flattened hair in his fingers, feeling it pointless to return the mask to his face, "no Frank, I'm Matt Murdock, the lawyer, and I'm blind, as in , I can't see - at least not like you can."
"So how?"
Matt sighs again at the inconvenience of the question, "when I was a kid I got some chemicals splashed in my eyes that gave me, heightened senses " he says, impatiently, like he's told the story a thousand times before.
" Jesus ," Frank paces, "this is fuckin' batshit crazy Red. You're a crazy motherfucker," and Matt's a little surprised when Frank starts laughing hard, actually, he doesn't think he's ever smiled as wide.
"Wait," he says, his hands finding his knees as he looks Matt right in the eyes, "that's why you care about Karen so much? You're in love with her?"
"I care about her, yeah."
"You care about her?" He repeats, "What, are you scared to say it Red?"
The urge to leap to his feet and beat the shit of of him is strong in that moment, he certainly didn't come here to have the bones of his emotions picked at by a killer like Frank Castle, but Franks wearing a grin that he can't seem to justify sinking his fist into, and for some reason he decides to stay where he is, resigning himself to whatever scolding is coming.
"You know, she told me about you when we first met." Frank says, "never let that shit go, I said. If you got someone you love, Red - shit, you're damn fucking lucky, that's what you are," and he moves to sit against the opposite wall, mirroring Matt's position, picking up his pistol and turning it in his fingers the way a old man might turn his favourite whiskey glass.
"It's not that simple Frank."
"Why? Cause you run around in pajamas all night without telling her?"
He snaps his head up.
"Does she know Red?" Frank adds, smiling wide.
"She knows.. Now."
He chuckles, shaking his head, Matt suddenly feeling like a scorned child, "Oh, she'll have fuckin' loved that. You, lying to her."
"It was a mistake. But you understand now - why I'm here."
He can hear Frank rubbing his thumbs over his eyes, frustration building up in his chest again, "you think I wanted this?" He frowns, "Karen, following me around, getting herself beat up? Getting mixed up in this shit show? Fuck no Red," he slams his fist onto the hard floor beside him, "I care about her too, but she just won't quit."
At least they agree on one thing. "Yeah. Sounds like Karen."
Frank sighs, "Well dammit it Red, talk to her not me."
He considers the logicality of that answer, but he's distracted by all too familiar sound, a frequency, a hum that can only ever be attached to one person -
"Did you invite her here?" Matt asks, panicking, his head tilting in the direction of the noise.
"Who?" Frank answers, just as Karen appears from out of the roof access door.
"Frank, I got those - " and she stops, ".... Matt ? --"
Frank stands to greet her and there's a tenderness in their exchange that sits so uncomfortably on Matt's chest he almost gets up and leaves right there and then.
"Red here expects me to believe he's actually blind, I mean, how the fuck is that even possible?"
"It's complicated," Karen and Matt both say in unison.
He imagines Frank's face is a picture," Shit ," he says, and he begins to mutter some other question he suspects is related to Matt's heightened sense of hearing or smell or fighting ability, but he ignores him, he's not in the mood to explain the nuances of his senses to Frank Castle tonight.
"Karen, what are you doing here?"
"Helping," she says.
"We talked about this."
"No, you talked at me about this. And I chose to ignore your advice."
"I told ya Red. Not a damn thing she doesn't want to."
"What about you Matt?" Karen asks.
"He's protecting you from me." Frank chimes in.
Matt rolls his eyes again, seeking a prayer of strength from above.
"Matt - I swear sometimes I could just -"
"He's right to," Frank adds, Karen goes to speak but he stops her, "I'm serious. I appreciate everything you've done. I do. But I keep telling you Karen, you spend too much time with a man like me - it - it ain't gonna end well."
"Frank no. I told you I would. I promised." And she places her hand on his cheek.
"I don't want you to get hurt, Karen."
Matt hears her sigh a heavy, tired breath, "God, you sound just like him."
Disappointment, that's what he hears, disappointment at Frank behaving the exact same way he does. He zones out for a moment as he sits against the wall -
" I care about you Frank ," she says, and God that hurts way more than he ever expected it to. He hangs his head to his knees and breathes deep. He's fucked up. He's too late.
"He loves you." Frank says, "don't you Red? Red ?"
He hasn't been listening, but Karen's looking right at him and her hearts pounding just like it used to when -
He's really gonna make him say it isn't he? Frank fucking Castle of all people.
" Yes ."
"What was that Red?"
"I love her. I love - you ."
He can't get a read on her, the thrum of her heart is clear but he can't tell if she's upset or happy or - disappointed .
"I told you to hold on didn't I?" Frank says.
She leans her forehead into his, "I tried."
It's 8am in the morning. She knows there's only one person who would come knocking on her door that early, probably someone who's been up most of the night trying to think of ways to explain himself out of - whatever last night was -
"We're not doing this today Matt," she says moving to shut the door right back in his face.
"Karen, we work together. We can't not -" his hand jams the door back open and she turns impatiently towards the kitchen,
"What you said, about Frank .."
It's a little early to be discussing matters of the heart but it's clear he has no intention of leaving as he follows her to the kitchen, Karen choosing to busy herself with making the breakfast she now knows she definitely isn't going to eat.
"You really wanna do this now?" She snaps, as Matt sighs, only irritating her further, "you're so interested in who I care about Matt, maybe you're still sleeping with a whole harem of women? How would I even know?"
"Karen, it was never like that -"
"What was it like Matt? Because it hurt. Whatever it was."
He sinks back heavily on to the stool that's behind him, "her name was Elektra. The woman you're talking about."
"Was?"
He nods, the pain on his face confirming her assumption. Suddenly she can't even look at him, she turns to busy her hands again with something pointless on the side board," I'm sorry that happened to you Matt but -"
"I don't want sympathy, she was a killer, a murderer, but did I love her? Yeah, yeah I think I did. We can't help who we chose to care about, can we Karen? Even if they're killers."
She chuckles, "Are you talking about Frank, or me?"
There's a moment of silence before Matt gages her meaning, "Karen, that's - "
"No no Matt. I think it's exactly what you mean. Frank's a killer, sure, your ex is killer and oh, would you look at that, so am I," she turns to meet his gaze before she says it, 'maybe you do have a type."
Matt's wearing an open mouthed grin that she can only put down to a complete and utter lack of words at her accusation, and she has to admit, there's something wholly satisfying about watching a man who argues for living suddenly fail to find his voice.
"You - you can't compare any of that to what happened with Wesley and you know it,"
"But you know I'd do it again? If I had to," he knows that's the truth.The steady beat of her heart tells him it is, "and I'm never gonna stop trying to help Frank castle. Never."
"Fine. Don't. I won't stop you," he says.
She doesn't believe him, not even for a second, he's agreeing with her just to piss her off, "I think I'm bored with this conversation Matt," she turns on her heel and heads for the safety of her bedroom.
"We're not done."
"Oh, we're done," she says defiantly.
But Matt moves quickly to block her path, his hand light but purposeful on her stomach, his presence making her step back against the wall.
"You're such a dick," she spits, shoving him away from her, harder than she means to and feeling immediately guilty as Matt grabs her again, by the wrist this time, moving his body in so close she can feel his breath on her face.
"You can go after Frank if you want," he speaks harshly but with a calmness that both unerves her and arouses her in equal measure, "be with Frank for all I care - you're too stubborn to listen to me anyway, but know this… what I said on the roof last night, I meant it."
Karen clenches her teeth, flickering her eyes down to find some kind of weakness in his statement, trying to think of something, anything she can say, that will put distance between the warmth of their bodies, knowing that although her face says anger, the rest of her is saying something else entirely, betraying her like it always does when he's around -
"Prove it" she says finally, tipping her chin up, her nose brushing the tip of his, "prove that you meant it."
They both feel it. The electricity between them, her skin is buzzing, every hair on her body is standing on end in anticipation, it's a dare - a challenge, and he knows it. He hovers over her lips, knowing where this will end once it starts.
"You want me to prove it?" It's not a question, his lips meet hers roughly as he tilts her head to find connection with his tongue - she'd almost forgotten how good he was at this - so much had happened since then, the time that had passed was enough to dilute the memory of his perfect mouth, she'd forgotten just how much she'd wanted this, all of this. And he's not moving slowly, his hands are already making light work of her fly, she pulls up his t-shirt and he gratefully discards it onto the floor before returning his hands to her waist.
"How much do you like this blouse?" He rasps into her neck, and by the time she figures out what he means his fingers have found the spaces in-between the buttons and he tugs hard, ripping it open.
"God, I hate you, " she hisses through a grin, glancing down while he has his arms around her back, unfastening her bra. She takes in the sight of his naked torso and the pair of blue jeans that he's still wearing - something she's always enjoyed the rare sight of - the hem sits perfectly over that delicious ridge of muscle at his hips, the one that leads her eyes right down to the bulge in the front of his pants, she lets her hands drop, seeking to pry his belt open but he steps back and does it for her, leaving it open for her to slip her hand into. The strangled sound that comes from him when she palms his cock through his boxer shorts sends her body into overdrive and he snatches her hand away after a few seconds, deciding suddenly that it's too much.
"I need to be inside you -" he growls, slipping his hand inside her underwear, his fingers gliding over her wet center the best he can within the tight confines of her jeans, "that's what you want, isn't it?"
She nods, " Yes ,"
And when her back hits the mattress he hurriedly drags her jeans from her legs and then does the same with his own, standing naked and hard between her thighs, and God, she wants this, needs it - she's aching for him. He pulls her sharply to the edge of the bed as his elbows come to rest either side of her head, he doesn't hesitate, he doesn't ask her if she's sure, he slides right into her like it's the only thing in the world that matters.
"Karen, you feel - " and her arms wrap around his back as he finds a rhythm with merciless intensity, making it clear he has no intention of taking this slow -
" Matt - I want more,"
He moans heatedly, "tell me - tell me what you need Karen - I'll do anything -" he slips his hand through her and hair and makes a fist at the roots, pinning her head to the bed " tell me ," he repeats.
"Deeper - I want you deeper--"
She feels him bite at her collarbone, directing her to hook one of her knees over his shoulder, letting it slip down into the crook of his arm, and God he feels amazing - she's so full, so satisfied -
"Kiss me, Matt," she begs needily. And they're so together, so close, it's perfection - all of it -
" Oh fuck - yes - there -- there," she pants, and he responds, his voice full of excitement in her ear, wanting nothing more than to feel her come apart around him, he presses his forehead to hers, his nose to hers and she locks onto his brown eyes,
" What's my name Karen -"
She chokes it out, "-- Matt - "
" -- Again --"
And she anchors herself with a hand through his hair as she forces out his name one more time, the rest is lost in the blinding haze that rolls over her, Matt following her lead, his cry, vanishing somewhere against the sweet softness of her shoulder.
If she'd known when she'd woken up this morning that she was going to end up in her bed with Matt, she'd have probably tidied up a bit. They're already lying on a pile of duvets, there's a heap of dirty laundry in the corner and she's uncomfortably aware of the vibrator she's left out on the bedside table.
But she's found a perfect spot, lying against the inside of Matt's arm, her head tucked into his chest as he moves his fingers over her skin, wishing more than anything that it wasn't a work day and she could just stay here for hours.
"I'm sorry if that was... a bit much," Matt says.
" No Matt - it…" she sighs into a breathless laugh.
"Mm that good huh?" Matt raises his eyebrows, running his fingers over the slope of her waist, "listen, Karen I want you to know, whatever happens, we'll.. we'll be okay - and I'll try to not be…as much of a dick."
Karen laughs, "well.. in light of new evidence, I'm inclined to allow a small degree of dickishness,"
"Oh. Okay your honour ," he smirks as he lays a light kiss on her lips, "I'll make you a promise then, you won't be needing that anymore," he gestures behind him towards her bedside table.
"Does anything ever get past you?"
He murmurs a soft 'no' into her lips as he starts to kiss her wantingly again, pulling her body on top of him "and how do you feel about being a little late for work today?"