Chapter Text
Matt groaned as he lurched a leg over the window seal. The stretching of his shoulder stung and the blood didn’t seem to slow down.
Karen held out her hands as if to catch him if he fell. She tried not to panic at the state of him. “What do you need?”
Matt gave a unattractive groan. “Stitches?”
Karen almost said she didn’t have any but she remembered the first aid kit she had bought a couple months ago. A purchase made just in case. “Yeah. Just-give me a second.”
In her pajamas she ran to the bathroom and dug under the sink. The noise of tossing around hair dryers and makeup almost made Matt laugh.
When she came out of the bathroom Matt was standing awkwardly by the book shelf. The picture of them on St. Patrick’s day propped up behind him. His gloved hand laid over his side and he was favoring a leg. She flipped the lights on. At least he didn’t look too bad from what she could see. He wobbled over to the kitchen table and gestured to his back. “There’s a gash. I’d fix it myself but I can’t reach it.”
He turned around to show her and she had to admit that she felt a little nauseous. “Oh my god...come sit.”
He straddled the bench of her kitchen table and she sat behind him.
“Jesus...” Her hand reached up to examine it but she hesitated. She had no experience in wounds. She tugged his shirt up. “Take this off.”
Matt grunted as he yanked the black spandex shirt over his head. The skin of his back was grim. It was hard to tell where the bruises ended and when the dirt and grime started.
Her hands hovered above his back. Scared to accidentally hurt him even more. “What happened?” She breathed out.
Matt managed an embarrassed chuckle. “I uh...crashed through a window.”
“Huh.” He didn’t offer any more context. “That happen a lot?”
“Not really but there’s glass. You’ll need to take it out before you stitch it.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Won’t that hurt?”
“Probably, but I’ll be fine.”
Thankfully the kit came with tweezers and she slowly pinched at the small blood covered pieces of glass. Luckily for him they all were superficial and he had barely even flinched. His demonstration of pain tolerance wasn’t exactly something that eased her worry.
She focused on his shoulder. “Does it hurt badly?”
“I’ve had worse.”
“I can see that.” Her hands stop working for just a moment and a rouge finger slipped away to lightly trail above the long vertical scar on his lower back. His sensitive skin shivered under her fingers. “Sorry.” Karen whispered and snapped out of her trance.
“I hate to wake you up like this.”
“Don’t be. Like I said, I’m here if you need me. But if I’m being honest...I’m surprised you came. Figured I wasn’t your first choice.” Matt didn’t miss the insecurity in her voice.
“I don’t have many choices. Plus, I figured you’d be gentle.”
“But that nurse...Claire. She helped you before.”
Another reminder of everything he’s been avoiding. “That was before.”
“Right. Before. The time you let us all think you were dead?” She hadn’t said it in a malicious way. Just a reference to the past but he shifted in his seat and sat a little straighter.
Matt frowned deeply. “Something like that.”
“She must know by now that you’re alive. Headlines are hard to ignore.”
It was true. It was easier to just believe Claire came to her senses and decided he just wasn’t worth the trouble. “She hasn’t reached out...it’s for the best. She doesn’t need me screwing up her life anymore than I already have.” Wherever Claire was these days she was sure to know by now that Daredevil was back. Along with Nelson & Murdock. And there was no way would Matt be knocking on her door anytime soon. She didn’t need that burden.
“What about me? Do you think I should stay away?”
A small smirk formed on his face. “In the time I’ve known you, you’ve never been one to let others tell you what to do.”
Her tone was teasing, playful even. “Exactly.”
Matt chuckled and Karen continued to work on his back. More blood continued to flow and she needed to see him up
She tore her eyes away from the sight and placed the tweezers to the side. “I’m afraid I won’t be much help in the way of stitches.”
“I’ll walk you through it.” He could sense her hesitation. “You’ll do fine. Trust me.”
When the needle first pierced his skin he made a subtle flinch. Her hand retreated away from his skin. “Shit! Matt, you should be in a hospital. Not bleeding in my kitchen.”
“I’m fine. Don’t stop.”
She knew better than to argue so she continued with his direction. He made tiny noises of protest a few times but he didn’t say anything.
Maybe talking would help. Taking his mind off the pain. “What made you come to me? I mean-what about Sister Maggie? I thought she was good at this stuff?”
“She has her own life.”
“I’m sure she’d want to help. If you’d let her.”
“Maybe.” He knew she’d want to help but that meant more alone time with her. And that meant a relationship.
“Done. I think.” She peeled off the gloves she’d put on and stood.
Matt slowly stood up to grab his bloodly shirt. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” She could help herself. Seeing him in the light like this. She wasn’t exactly an expert but she was sure this was definitely in the book of boundaries you should not cross with your incredibly attractive vigilante ex-boyfriend.But that didn’t stop her from wanting to know every story behind every scar. She wanted to know how much they hurt and who exactly hurt him.
Matt groaned as he lifted his arms. Karen moved quickly to help him. “Let me.”
“I’m fine.”
She ignored what must have been the millionth ‘I’m fine’ from him. She pulled the shirt down while analyzing every scar she could spot in the short time. The very last one she saw was a long five to six inch horizontal scar above his right hip. The scar tissue was jagged and stark white against his skin. She lifted the shirt back up slightly to run her index finger along the white line.
“When was this?”
Matt tilted his head and his eyes focused on her lips. “The uh...car accident you didn’t believe.”
A ghost of a smile appeared. “Well, you always were a shitty liar.”
Matt laughed and his chest rumbled.
Karen walked around the kitchen, cleaning up the mess. “I wish you had told me. I would’ve understood.”
Matt didn't answer and turned away from her. He walked around the living room and his finger slid across the top of the frame that held the picture of them from St. Patrick's day. He remembered the day Foggy had gifted it to Karen.
She could tell there was a lot on his mind. “While you’re here...are you okay? We haven’t really spoken for the past couple of days.” She and Matt hadn’t seen much of each other. The truth was they had just been on separate cases and busy with their own stuff but that had never stopped them from catching up before.
“I’ve just been busy.”
It wasn’t the entire truth and they both knew it. Karen had a suspicion he was just avoiding any and all mention of Jason. “You sure it has nothing to do with Jason?”
Matt became visibly flustered. “Why-why would he matter? I told you I’ve just been busy.”
She tried not to push the topic. “It's just you acted weird and I didnt know…”
“Well nothings wrong.”
“Okay…” She didn’t need to see anymore. She was right. Matt was upset, specifically about Jason.
“It's late. I'll go so you can um...sleep.”
“Yeah. Straight home. No stops right?”
“Yes ma'am.”
He slid the window up and got one foot out.
“Matt-” Karen said suddenly and Matt turned his head.
Jason had taken her out. It’d been nice. Lots to talk about but it had been awkward. Like two co-workers trying to make conversation during their lunch break. He was respectful and walked her home. But when they got to her building they had stopped and agreed that a second date wasn't needed.
_____
There was no giggling and twirling of hair and there was definitely no kiss.
Jason broke the silence first. “There's someone else.” He wasn't mad. He said it as if it was common knowledge.
Karen wanted to hide from humiliation. “Jason…”
He raised a hand to stop her. “Don't sweat it. The date wasn't a total catastrophe. You're very pleasant company.”
“You were great. It's just...you were the first person I've dated since.”
“Must have been some guy. I'm honored to be the first.”
Karen smirked at his optimistic tone. “Will Ellison be terribly upset?”
“I'll break it to him gently.” They both laughed. “No, don't worry. I hope you find some resemblance of closure.”
“What makes you think I need closure?”
“Falling in love is easy. Letting someone go is hard. Often there’s a lot unspoken because it’s like ripping off a bandaid. Then when it’s over your left with the what if’s and maybes. I speak from experience.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
_____
Karen hadn’t stopped thinking about Jason's words. He was right. Maybe the only way to move on was to actually talk about what happened. But why did that seem like an impossible task?
“You didn't ask and you don't have to know but you’re my friend so I just thought you should know but I know that since we dated things have been awkward-” Karen stopped her rambling and blurted out as casually as she could. “It didn't work out. Me and Jason.”
Matt took a moment to untangle what she just said. When it settled all he managed was, “Oh?” It was a strange conversation to be having at three oclock with one foot out the window. “He seemed nice.” God, he thought, I must look so stupid.
Karen hugged herself and leaned against her desk. “I wasn’t ready to date again I guess.”
“Oh?” It was like he ran out of responses.
Karen needed an escape from the hole she just dug for herself. And she needed him gone before she opened up a door that did not need to be opened. “Anyway, it's late.”
Her voice broke through his thoughts. He nodded. “Right. I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
Only when the window was shut, the stairs were climbed, and he got a couple blocks away did he stop. A smile broke out on his face. He kept his promise to Karen and went straight home. Not because of the new stitches but because there was way too much on his mind to focus on a fight.