[ karen is a grown woman who can handle herself - has been handling herself, up until this point, without his strategy in place. has it been easy? far from it. karen page might be a survivor, but this life, this place, is not for the faint of heart. so no, it has not been easy. every day feels like a little more of her resolve falls away. day upon day of survival, of paranoia, of knowing that the moment she might relax, even the smallest bit, will be the day it's all over. it all has felt a bit like an ongoing nightmare, the worst nights that she's ever experienced in hell's kitchen, over and over and over again. but she has done it, she would continue to do it too, alone, for however long it took, but-
well- that is all something they can talk about once they get to that point, when she knows his attention isn't fully on the task at hand. frank castle is a soldier, something that will always be at the core of him, and while it will never be the only thing there is to him, she can recognize when the situation calls for it. and right now, his expertise is warranted. wanted. because if there was ever going to be a chance for a woman getting attacked, it would be near frank. karen would know.
they keep walking, and Karen stops - silent - when his hand comes up to tell her as much. she doesn't risk also leaning around the corner, and instead waits for frank to check the scene, to make a plan. she keeps her eyes on the back hallway, keeps wanting to be of more use but knows her limits, knows that if she engages, the chances of it getting worse are higher. too many bodies, too many changes.
frank turns back to her voice low, and tells her about what she'd been thinking. she nods, trusting him, knowing that it's unlikely but she also doesn't want to get in the way. she's been around long enough to know that ammunition isn't easy to come by, but she also hasn't had a ton of uses for it, so she's not necessarily thinking about it. but of course frank is, of course frank has it top of mind. there's another sound from around the corner, more of a struggle, and Karen quickly catches his elbow before he turns the corner. she's not planning on saying anything, but her eyes say enough. be careful. even when she knows he probably doesn't need it. she squeezes his arm, once, and then lets go and turns her eyes back to the hallway.
she resists the urge to look as frank moves silently around the corner, and has to resist it again when she hears one of the men bark out, angrily. what follows is just about what she expects - yelling, the sound of fists, of breaking bones - and Karen lets one of her hands come to her mouth, holding back the noises she nearly makes in response. frank doesn't need long, barely a few minutes, but then the silence that follows is all that karen needs before she lowers her gun and finally peeks around the corner to see what happened. or, maybe more accurately, what frank's left behind. ]
no subject
well- that is all something they can talk about once they get to that point, when she knows his attention isn't fully on the task at hand. frank castle is a soldier, something that will always be at the core of him, and while it will never be the only thing there is to him, she can recognize when the situation calls for it. and right now, his expertise is warranted. wanted. because if there was ever going to be a chance for a woman getting attacked, it would be near frank. karen would know.
they keep walking, and Karen stops - silent - when his hand comes up to tell her as much. she doesn't risk also leaning around the corner, and instead waits for frank to check the scene, to make a plan. she keeps her eyes on the back hallway, keeps wanting to be of more use but knows her limits, knows that if she engages, the chances of it getting worse are higher. too many bodies, too many changes.
frank turns back to her voice low, and tells her about what she'd been thinking. she nods, trusting him, knowing that it's unlikely but she also doesn't want to get in the way. she's been around long enough to know that ammunition isn't easy to come by, but she also hasn't had a ton of uses for it, so she's not necessarily thinking about it. but of course frank is, of course frank has it top of mind. there's another sound from around the corner, more of a struggle, and Karen quickly catches his elbow before he turns the corner. she's not planning on saying anything, but her eyes say enough. be careful. even when she knows he probably doesn't need it. she squeezes his arm, once, and then lets go and turns her eyes back to the hallway.
she resists the urge to look as frank moves silently around the corner, and has to resist it again when she hears one of the men bark out, angrily. what follows is just about what she expects - yelling, the sound of fists, of breaking bones - and Karen lets one of her hands come to her mouth, holding back the noises she nearly makes in response. frank doesn't need long, barely a few minutes, but then the silence that follows is all that karen needs before she lowers her gun and finally peeks around the corner to see what happened. or, maybe more accurately, what frank's left behind. ]