bakerstreet | A bomb loves a crowd

[tiefling: androgynous, sex fluid, generally uses female pronouns. enemies/class status good choices for an obvious demonoid but open to anything.]

If there was one thing Karen was good at that was absolutely detrimental to her mental well-being it was denial. She’d been in denial over her feelings for Matt for the longest time. It had taken a speech from Frank Castle to snap her back to reality. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing she’d been telling herself that was an outright lie.

It was still so clear in her memory, that night when she’d told Frank that he was dead to her. Maybe she’d even wished that she could flip a switch and stop caring about him simply because he’d killed people. Even after she’d stopped seeing him on a regular basis, it had become impossible to push him out of her mind. What was this? It was insanity. That’s what Karen told herself, half scolding herself for even thinking of him. When it became clear that his memory wasn’t going to leave her alone, though, she decided to do something.

Using her resources at the paper, Karen dug and dug and dug until she found a location. She was incredibly careful not to let anyone else get ahold of it. If she was correct, she’d found where Frank was hiding out, or perhaps possibly an old address of a place where he’d hidden out for a time before. She’d crossed her fingers that it was the former.

With two paper cups of black coffee in a cardboard drink carrier, Karen made her way to the address and knocked on the door. She wasn’t sure what exactly she was hoping for. Being at this apartment put both of them in danger. It meant his location might be revealed and it meant anyone who might have been watching would have associated her with the Punisher. It was a stupid risk, but it was one she was convinced was worth taking. Seeing him wasn’t going to erase him from her memory, but it might fix that itch at the back of her brain that seemed to pop up every time she thought of him.

After a moment's pause, she knocked on the door.

Since his disappearance, Frank has been careful to lay low. He put down the Punisher mantel for a time and went into hiding. He got what he wanted; he got his revenge, but he was still a wanted man who was convicted of various crimes, homicides, and escaped from prison. There would be no normal life for him after his vendetta was accomplished. In the meantime, he thought it best to keep his head down until he could figure out where to go from here.

So when there was a knock at his door, Frank went to it, unbolted the door, and used it to shield his body as he looked out the opening. Karen was the last person he expected to see. His eyes darted up and down the hall. She appeared to be alone, so he opened the door wider. His right hand was behind him, holding his gun from her sight, but she could probably tell it was there. Not to be used on her, of course. Frank tilted his head a little, indicating she should come in as he stepped back to open the door wider for her.

Once she's inside he shuts the door, bolts it, and sets his gun down on a small table set against the wall by the door. It could've been any number of people at that door. Why was it her? When he turns to look at her, he's clearly astonished and confused.

"Ma'am, what're you doing here?"

He doesn't ask how she even found him. Frank supposed she had her ways. She was smart. He'd never doubt that.

That’s an answer even Karen isn’t sure she knows the answer to. Responses dart through her mind.

Can’t I pay a friend a visit? She almost says, but she bites back the words. Karen doesn’t like to make light of this. This ‘visit’ is very important to her. She’s been planning it, doing research for it for a couple weeks. It’s not as if she woke up this morning and simply decided to drop in on an old friend. It’s more than that. Instead of giving a verbal response, Karen shrugs her shoulders. The words won’t come to her. It’s her job as a writer to master the English language and a simple statement just won’t come to her. Talk about frustrating.

After a silence that seems much longer than it actually is, she opens her mouth to speak. “I just wanted to see you. It felt like I hadn’t seen you in forever and I…” Started to miss you. Started to worry about you. But she doesn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she shrugs her shoulders again and shakes her head.

She takes the two cups out of the drink holder, setting one on the counter close to her and the other closer to him. “Black coffee. Pretty decent, too.” Her lips curl into a small smile. It’s an offering of sorts. Karen doesn’t know much about what Frank likes to eat, but she knows he takes his coffee black. There’s a lot about him that’s a mystery, but that’s one puzzle piece that she has secure in the palm of her hand. She lifts her cup to her lips and takes a sip. Maybe sharing coffee will make this whole thing easier. It’s a stab in the dark, but it’s all she’s got.

“How are you?” She asks finally. It’s not small talk, but rather something that she sincerely wants to know. Karen thinks about it a lot - What he’s doing, how he’s managing life as a fugitive, how he’s handling the grief… All of it. Her eyes search his face as she waits for his response, taking in every detail. With Frank it always seems that she needs to dig a little beneath the surface.

Calling him a friend might not work after she declared him dead to her. Those were the last words she said to him, though he couldn't know how happy she was when she saw him standing on that roof top, still alive, still fighting and helping to protect the Kitchen.

When Karen starts to explain why she came here, Frank looks at her. Really looks in that way she knows he can. She doesn't have to finish the words; everything she wants to say is written on her face and in her eyes. They went from those moments they shared to cutting off all contact, and it hurt. It hurt her and it hurt him, too. Yes, he used her for his own purposes, but it's not like he didn't care about her. He cared about her more than he wanted to admit.

"A peace offering, huh?" Frank smiles just a little and picks up the coffee to drink some of it. She might think he's a bit of a mystery, but Frank thinks she probably knows him better than anyone.

"You shouldn't do that." He says, setting the cup down and taking a couple of steps toward her. "What I am, what I do, it's not safe. You know that." He told her to get away from him. It was for her own good, and yet, here she is. "I'm alive, is how I am. For me, that's gotta be good enough." Because what the hell else does he have anymore?

“It’s not good enough for me.” The coffee is set down again and Karen folds her arms across her chest stubbornly. She won’t be brushed aside so easily. It’s good that he’s alive. It’s an enormous relief, actually, but she wants so much more than to just know he’s alive on that one particular day. Karen wants a connection with him. She wants to know he’s alive every day. She wants to know he’s alright and if he’s even the slightest bit not alright she wants to be there to change that. It’s certainly a lot to ask, which is why she doesn’t put a voice to it right away. She simply stands there, expression seeming to say that she’s not going anywhere no matter how dangerous he says it is.

“Hell’s Kitchen is dangerous, but I know one thing - I feel a hell of a lot safer when you’re around.” She let out a huff of what almost sounded like laughter. “I know how ridiculous that sounds, I do, but it’s the truth.” After everything they’d been through together, it seemed like safe should have been the last thing she felt around Frank. There was always gunfire in his presence, explosions, danger. Somehow, though, she knew she would never come to harm.

Shaking her head, she picks up her coffee again and takes a long drink of the hot beverage. This discussion almost seems like it calls for something stronger, but coffee will do for now. Her eyes drift into empty space for a moment, staring blankly before slowly reconnecting with his. There’s something she likes about his eyes. Karen is sure they’ve seen a lot. Too much, as a matter of fact, but they still retain some warmth. She wonders how many people stop to see that quality in Frank Castle’s eyes.

When she says she feels safer with him around, Frank laughs softly. He smiles, shaking his head a little. She's the only one who can make him smile like that. Laugh like that.

"If that's not good enough for you, then what is?" He really shouldn't give a shit about what she wants, but he does. "What you did for me... I can't repay that. If there's ever anything you need, I'll be there." Frank will take care of it, in whatever way necessary.

Not a lot of people have the nerve to look The Punisher in the eyes, so she's probably the only one who sees those things in them. They're warm when they look at her, but they don't look that way for a lot of other people. His eyes can also hold a lot of anger and a lot of hate. No mercy when he's staring down at a man who's begging for his life.

Without really thinking it over, Frank lifts his hand and reaches to slowly push back some of her blond hair that's fallen forward against her cheek. Damn, her hair is soft. Like silk.

If anything can bring a smile to Karen’s face, it’s the sound of Frank Castle laughing. It lightens the mood slightly.

She sighs. “I don’t want to have to do hours of research just to know where you are, Frank.” The smile on her face falters slightly. “I want to be enough of a part of your life that I know how you’re doing, that you’re alive.”

He brushes the hair from her cheek and it catches her off guard. Her breath catches just barely, but she makes no move to stop him. What surprises her is how welcome the touch is, how much she finds that she wants his fingertips against her cheek. It’s the slightest of touches, but somehow it feels so good. Karen turns her face toward his hand and before it can fall she gives his palm a light kiss.

It feels like such a bold move for being such a simple action. After all, it’s just a kiss. Kisses, though, can move mountains. They can change everything. She wonders after the fact how much this kiss in particular will change. Things have never been all that romantic between Frank and Karen before. They’ve been close. Wonderfully close. It’s just never been the same as things between herself and Matt. Maybe that’s a good thing.

When her cheek turns toward his hand, the touch goes from just a brush at her hair to cupping her cheek. A kiss meant a great number of things. That wasn't the type of simple kiss one would give to a friend. Something like that meant more. He meant something to her, and he knew that. He's known that for some time now. She also meant something to him; whether she realized it or not, Frank didn't know.

Frank sighed, looking down and then meeting her gaze again. "Shit." Because... yeah, shit, he knew. He was good at reading things, what might be hidden under the surface, and what could possibly be.

He stepped in toward her, closer, so he could lift his other hand to cup her other cheek and look into her eyes. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against her forehead. The kiss lingered for several seconds before he drew his lips away. "I thought you were smarter than that." He says the words with a crooked smile. Too smart to care that much about a guy like him.

Karen can’t help but laugh. She thought that she was smarter than that, too. Never before in her life has she fallen for a guy like Frank. He’s not what she would call her type, or at least not on the surface. When you get down to it, though, who wouldn’t want someone who’s honest with you? Someone who would move mountains to protect you?

“Even I don’t know why my mind works the way it does sometimes.” She smirks and shrugs her shoulders slightly. It isn’t entirely true that she doesn’t know why she’s attracted to Frank. There are reasons that she is completely and utterly aware of. It’s just that there are also reasons that should have made her stay away. Warning signs that were clear as day. For some reason, there was something that made her want to ignore them.

Her hand finds its way to his chest, right over his heart, and even though they’re both perfectly calm she can just barely feel his heart beating. It brings a smile to her face.

“I know what I want, though.” It sounds suggestive even though she doesn’t necessarily mean it that way. All she really wants is to be a part of his life.

"Yeah." Frank knows she's the type of woman who knows what she wants and goes after it. If she hadn't been that type, she wouldn't have relentlessly pursued his case. She would've given up on him a long time ago.

His hands slip back to her neck as she touches his chest. Frank has to wonder how long she'll feel this way, given the man he is. The things he's done can't be undone. There's no future in this; she must know that. He'll never be able to live a normal life. Even if he decided one day to given up The Punisher, Frank would still be held accountable for all of his crimes. He figures there'll come a point where she won't want him anymore, and he wouldn't be able to blame her for that.

For now, though, it's difficult to push her away, even for her own good. His hands let go, always respectful. "I can give you a disposable phone. You can keep in touch with me that way."

It’s easy to think that things will never change, but Karen knows they might. So much could go wrong in a relationship with Frank. As safe as he makes her feel, one or both of them could easily be in danger. With him living the lifestyle of a vigilante and her occasionally exposing criminals by way of newspaper articles, a new habit she’d picked up, there was a very real possibility that fate might snatch one of them out of the other’s life utterly and completely. Karen liked to believe that if their relationship, whatever it was and whatever it would be, came to an end it would be because they got on each other’s nerves, not because one of them had met their end.

The idea of a line of communication, though, makes her smile a little brighter and erases that dark train of thought from her mind. “That works,” she says, as if she’s giving her stamp of approval. She tilts her head forward as if to kiss him, but stops herself, chuckling. There’s a pause and she just smirks.

“I thought I was going to get a lot more resistance from you.” The thumb on the hand over his heart rubs his chest through his shirt idly. “I really was prepared to fight you on this, but I’m kinda glad I don’t have to.”

Frank is actually betting that one day, he won't hear the bullet that gets him. That will certainly end things rather effectively. He's not hoping to die, but with his life, it almost feels inevitable.

When she leans in and then back again, he blinks, then smiles a little. This whole thing felt awkward but.. sort of right at the same time. It was a mystery to him how he should proceed. It's not like a normal relationship.

"Well, you're stubborn as hell. I know you won't back down." So he might as well keep in touch with her. Frank actually wants to do that; though he has plenty of reasons why he shouldn't. "Uh, you wanna sit or something?" He should try to be a good host.

She can’t help but grin. That’s her to a t – stubborn as hell. Karen nods. The deal is good enough for her, so she has no reason to press Frank any further. The rest of her visit might actually be a little more pleasant than she’d expected.

“Yeah,” Her grin sort of melts into a soft, warm smile. She takes her coffee and makes her way out of Frank’s kitchen over to his couch. Frank’s apartment is much barer than her own, but she assumes that it’s because it’s not really, truly home to him. Maybe he doesn’t really make anyplace home anymore.

Her eyes find his. “How long have you been living here?” She sips at her coffee. It’s not as hot as it was when she first walked in, but still tastes good. She scoots over slightly on the couch, making room for Frank to sit next to her.

Frank takes his coffee in his left hand and walks over to a bag of his belongings. While sifting through it, he looks over his shoulder to respond to the question. "Five days. I can't believe you tracked me down." He's been on the move a lot. "Guess I'm not hiding as well as I thought." She's resourceful, though, and a lot smarter than some of the other people who might be looking for him. FBI included.

Frank fishes out a disposable mobile phone and walks over to the couch. The coffee is set down and then he takes his seat next to her. A lot closer than he needs to be. "Here." He turns a bit, offering the phone to her; his other arm drapes across the back of the couch behind her shoulders.

"You can reach me with this. You think the Avengers have a hotline?" Guess The Punisher has one now, at least where she's concerned.

She cracks a smile. “You don’t have to worry. I had to do a lot of digging to find you. If I wasn’t so persistent there was no way I’d have been able to track you down.” It has to be some comfort. Frank of all people knows the power of Karen Page’s stubbornness. When she wants to accomplish something, it gets done.

Karen takes the phone in her hands and nods, eyeing it carefully. It looks so harmless, but for such an ordinary item it’s pretty important. This is one piece of plastic she’ll be treasuring like it’s made of gold.

The hotline comment makes her laugh quietly. “They probably have something like it, but I’m guessing only the higher ups get access to it.” She turns her head to look at him with a small smile. “Does this make me a ‘higher up’ to you?”

She was persistent, but so were the people looking for him. He'd move locations tomorrow, but at least she had a means of finding him now. Not that he's sure it's even a good idea; having any ties to him could be dangerous for her.

At the joke, he cracks a smile. "I dunno, maybe." If she called him or needed anything, he'd come running, so in a sense, maybe it does. "Just don't ask me to do something you'd regret."

When she looks at him, he notices again how close they were. Shit, this was a bad idea. He should move back. Sit further away. But his arm felt comfortable right there behind her on the couch, his side against her side.

She smiles a tight-lipped smile and gives a firm nod. “No regrets. Promise.” It’s easier said than done, of course. It’s a difficult thing to do, predicting what you will and won’t regret, but Karen has pretty good intuition in that aspect. She’ll manage.

Without much thought, Karen relaxes, slouching a bit and leaning back into his arm. The moment she feels his arm on her back she wonders if the move is a mistake, but decides that straightening up would make things much more awkward than simply staying there. The corners of her mouth twitch into a slightly nervous smile.

It feels like she needs to say something, fill the silence, so she blurts something out awkwardly. “I’m sorry if this inconvenienced you.” No she isn’t. She had to know he was safe and now that she knows she’s very glad. She wouldn’t have done it any other way. They’re just words to break the quiet that fills the air.

Frank finds it comfortable when she leans back against his arm. Like its the most natural thing in the world. Karen's expression might be a bit nervous, and she might feel the need to fill the air with a few words, but Frank is the opposite. Sometimes, he welcomes silence. Especially when his mind and his emotions are often so chaotic. He could sit quietly for hours just looking at her. Studying every detail.

Her words do make him smile, though. "No, you're not." Inconvenience or not, she would've come anyway to know he's alive. His thoughts drift back to the move she made earlier, almost a kiss. After a few more seconds of silence, he leans in slowly, his arm around her curling a bit to draw her toward him as he tilts his head to try and kiss her.

It almost makes her laugh how he calls her out so accurately. It makes sense. She knows that they’ve each had a sense of who the other is right from the very beginning. He doesn’t lie to her and apparently she is unable to lie to him. Funny how that works.

When he leans in to kiss her it seems like it happens in slow motion. Karen feels her breath catch and in a split second she tries to assess the situation, weigh the costs and the benefits, but her thoughts are all muddled together and her efforts go out the window. Instead, she leans into the kiss, closing the space between the two of them and touches her lips to his. It’s uncertain whether or not this is the smart decision, but it certainly feels like the right decision.

She pulls out of the kiss slowly, touching her forehead to his and smiling without saying a word. This time she doesn’t try to fill the silence. Instead, she takes this chance to just look him in the eyes. Karen leans in and kisses him again, a slightly deeper kiss. The ice has been broken and she feels comfortable enough to pursue it. Thoughts are racing through her mind, but none of them are coherent.

This isn't a good idea, Frank knows that, but his mind doesn't let him ponder it too long. He just feels it, and he's driven by what he feels. Usually it's rage, revenge, but this is different. There's a need to be close to her. To kiss her again. He'd say there are most costs than benefits to a guy like him, but she's strong-willed and will make her own decisions no matter what he thinks is best.

When she parts the kiss and smiles at him, he can't help but smile back, his brown eyes looking into her blues. The next kiss is returned as well, with Frank's eyes closing to savor it. He parts his lips, his tongue mingling a little with hers. He hasn't kissed anyone since he lost his wife, but this doesn't feel wrong at all.

As far as love goes, Karen hasn’t had the best track record. She hasn’t lost anyone in the same, final sense that Frank has, but her relationship history has been remarkably complicated. She managed to fall for the devil of Hell’s Kitchen without even knowing it. Her relationship with Matt, of course, was tangled and messed up long before he ever dropped the bomb that he was Daredevil. What did she do to remedy her complicated love life? She went and fell for another conflicted vigilante. Frank was incredibly different from Matt in many ways, but a relationship with him would be just as challenging and Karen knows it. Her worries, though, are far off in the back of her mind.

Not that long ago she never would have imagined kissing Frank Castle. It has nothing to do with any rules against mingling between professionals and clients. Their professional relationship ended when the trial did. It just always seemed that even though she may have had an incredible faith in him and an immense amount of trust placed in him that this sort of thing always seemed impossible. Even now as she kisses him it still seems impossible, like some kind of too-realistic daydream she’s cooked up in her head.

Karen’s head tilts slightly and she breaks the kiss again, but only to place another kiss on his jaw, then another just below it. Her hand finds its way to the back of his neck, touching it lightly as if she’s uncertain about what she’s doing. In truth, she’s still a little caught up in the impossibility of the situation.

Frank thinks she should think a little more about the challenges of this relationship. There was no future with him. Whatever they might have would only be in the moment, like this. Once she leaves, there's always a possibility that it'll be the last time she sees him. With Frank's life, death was always a chance. He didn't want to hurt her, but he couldn't refuse her, either.

When she parts the kiss, he remains still a moment, just letting it all sink in. Her tender kisses against his jaw and chin make Frank smile a little. His arm draws her in closer until he can feel her gently pressed against him. Though he's too tough to admit it, he's missed the contact, the warmth of someone he cares about. Frank didn't think he could care about another person again, but now he knows that he does.

He moves his hands up and down her back in a caress, feeling her from the back of her shoulders, down the spine, and then to the small of her back, only to repeat the motions.

Karen has thought about the challenges of a relationship like this. She’s still thinking about them in this moment and she’ll be thinking about them long after this. Maybe it’ll be impossible to shake all of her doubts, but as of right now she feels so certain about what she feels that the doubts might as well not exist. She’s never been great at drowning out that negative voice in the back of her mind, but she’s doing a good job of it right now.

As her kisses reach the base of his neck right where it meets the collar of his shirt, Karen stops kissing and simply cuddles up to him. The closeness is something she’s been craving, something she still craves. Being this close to him she can breathe him in. It’s a good feeling that she doesn’t want to let go of. Her head nestles onto his shoulder and she lets out a sigh.

“I don’t want to leave tonight.” The words come out softly, a quiet admission. Only after they’re spoken does she tilt her head slightly to place a single kiss on his neck, then sighing again.

Frank was attracted to her the moment they met, but none of those feelings mattered, only his mission. Now, that mission is finished. At least the first mission. He still wanted to end those that made others suffer the way he did. During those first meetings with her, he could not have imagined he'd feel the soft press of her lips against his neck like this, or the touch of her hands.

When she cuddles up against him, his arms curl around her and draws her with him as he reclines on the sofa, letting her rest against him in a comfortable way. Her warmth and her weight against him is just what he needed. It makes him feel grounded somehow.

"You don't have to go." He's not about to make her. Frank looks down at her and brushes gently at her hair with his fingers.

[He's a Disney villain, so there's wrong just automatically built in already.]

A bomb loves a crowd

Adam Parrish / The Raven Cycle

Paladin -|- D&D (OC) -|- /m, /f

Pearl | Steven Universe | OTA

Frank Castle | Daredevil

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Kylo Ren | SW: TFA

Rey | SW: TFA | OTA

Prokopenko | The Raven Cycle

Scarecrow | Batman Arkham Knight | ota

Mozenrath | Aladdin | OTA

Ben Solo [AU] | Star Wars

Isaac Lahey | Teen Wolf | OTA

zed martin | constantine

Marie Kreutz l The Bourne Series l OTA

Nora Bryce || Ascension

Inara Serra | Firefly | OTA

A bomb loves a crowd

Adam Parrish / The Raven Cycle

Paladin -|- D&D (OC) -|- */m, */f

Pearl | Steven Universe | OTA

Frank Castle | Daredevil

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Kylo Ren | SW: TFA

Rey | SW: TFA | OTA

Prokopenko | The Raven Cycle

Scarecrow | Batman Arkham Knight | ota

Mozenrath | Aladdin | OTA

Ben Solo [AU] | Star Wars

Isaac Lahey | Teen Wolf | OTA

zed martin | constantine

Marie Kreutz l The Bourne Series l OTA

Nora Bryce || Ascension

Inara Serra | Firefly | OTA

Paladin -|- D&D (OC) -|- /m, /f