Chapter Text
Chapter 1: "Ghosts in the Glass"
The bulletproof glass of Karen’s office window trembled when the subway roared beneath the city. She didn’t flinch.
Another late night. Another story half-finished. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, then fell still. Her reflection stared back at her from the dark window — eyes older than she remembered.
“You should go home.”
She turned. Curtis stood in the doorway with two coffees and that same quiet concern he wore like armor.
“This is home lately,” she said, forcing a smile.
He handed her a cup. Their fingers brushed. He hesitated.
“Karen,” he said softly. “You know I got your back. You know that, right?”
She nodded. But something in his voice made her chest tighten. Before she could answer, her phone buzzed. Unknown number. One new video message. She opened it.
Static. Then: Billy Russo, face half-shadowed, half-scarred. Smiling.
« He took everything from me."
A pause. A snarl.
"Now I’m taking it back. Starting with you."
She stared at the screen. Curtis had gone still beside her.
“You need to tell him,” he said. He didn’t have to say the name.
But she was already reaching for the burner phone in her desk drawer. The one Frank gave her. For emergencies only. Her hand trembled. She pressed call. One ring. Two.
“Yeah,” Frank’s voice. Rough. Cold.
“He’s back… Billy Russo.” she whispered.
A beat. No hesitation.
“Where are you?”
*******************************
Frank arrived like a storm — no knock, no warning — just the creak of Karen’s office door slamming against the wall.
“Where is it?” he asked.
Karen, calm despite the gun under his jacket, pointed to the laptop.
Frank didn’t sit. He hovered — pacing, jaw clenched, eyes scanning the room like someone expecting a sniper through the window.
“You sure it’s real?” he asked. “Not doctored? Could be a trap.”
“It’s him,” she said. “You know it is.”
He paused. His voice dropped.
“You okay?”
She nodded, then shook her head.
“I’m not scared of him.”
Frank looked at her, really looked. She was steady. Brave. But her hands were curled tight in her lap. She was shaking — barely.
“You should be,” he said. “Because he ain’t the same man anymore. Hell, he never was.”
Before she could answer, Curtis stepped in.
The quiet hum of the room feels heavier than usual. Frank Castle stands at the window, his eyes darting between Karen and Curtis. There's a shift in the air, an undercurrent of something Frank hadn’t expected: the two of them, standing so comfortably together.
Frank’s gaze flicks to Karen’s face, then to Curtis, confusion creasing his brow. He crosses his arms, voice laced with incredulity.
Frank, eyes narrowing, a mix of surprise and suspicion
"Since when are you two... friends ?"
Both Karen and Curtis pause, caught off guard by the bluntness of Frank’s question. Karen shifts uncomfortably, glancing at Curtis, and then back to Frank.
Karen, with a shrug, trying to downplay it
"We’ve been talking. Curtis has been helping me with the all "Russo wants to kill me". I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk after...".
Frank was confused, a little unsettled.
He glances at Curtis.
Curtis doesn’t look offended; in fact, he’s the calmest one in the room. He meets Frank’s gaze with a steady, knowing look, as if he’s been anticipating this moment.
"Karen’s a smart woman. She doesn’t just trust anyone."
Frank’s eyes flicker between the two of them. There’s something about the way they both look at him—like they’re in on something he doesn’t understand, something he hasn’t been part of. And that’s what bothers him the most.
"I never thought you two would be... friends. Thanks Billy..."
Curtis, grinning slightly, "Yeah, well, life has a way of surprising us."
Frank doesn’t laugh, but there's a moment where he almost lets himself appreciate the joke. Almost.
"Maybe too much surprise for me".
Karen notices his tone, the way his walls have gone up again. But she presses on, gently.
There’s a brief silence. Curtis shifts in his seat, then stands, as if sensing the fragile tension in the room.
“We need to move,” he said. “If he’s sending threats, it’s not just words. He’s planning something.”
Frank nodded, then turned to Karen, “You’re coming with me.”
“What? No — I can’t just disappear. I have a job—”
“You’re a target. You stay here, you die.”
Curtis interjected, voice tight. “Maybe she stays with me. You think dragging her into your war again is safer?”
Karen looked between them. One man willing to burn the world down for her. The other willing to hold her hand through it. And somewhere out there, a monster with her name in his mouth.
Frank’s eyes flicker back and forth between them, his chest tightening as he notices the way Curtis stands a little too close to Karen, his posture protective. Frank feels something gnaw at him — something uncomfortable. He doesn’t like it, not one bit.
Curtis, calmly, trying to defuse : "Frank, we’ve been through some shit, thanks to you. You think you're the only one who can keep her safe, but we both know you can’t do this alone. You think Billy gonna stop after what you did to him ? You think he’s gonna just walk away ? "
Karen, stepping in, her voice firm, but a bit softer :
"Frank... we’ve talked about this. We both know what Russo is capable of. But you’re not exactly in the right mind for this. You... you can’t keep running on anger. It’s killing you."
Frank pauses, his gaze shifting to Curtis, then back to Karen.
"I’m trying to protect you from yourself..."
Frank stands there, tense, his body coiled like a spring, caught between his feelings for Karen and the rage inside him.
He’s gone before anyone can respond.