Chapter Text
The room was cold when Karen came to. The dark walls decorated with ancient rust and chipped paint loomed over her tired self. There were only a couple sources of dim light, one of which was a run down window which revealed the brick wall of the neighboring building.
“Look who’s awake” a man said from the closed doorway. He and another armed man were dressed in black with weapons and from the looks of it, they were some of the men who had kidnapped her earlier. She had gotten off of work late that night and was walking to her apartment when she was pulled into an alleyway and drugged. When she woke up, she found herself in this cold and dark building, chained up in a chair.
Karen had automatically assumed it was because of her journalistic endeavors but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly who she had pissed off this time.
The men were joking amongst themselves when their attention was suddenly turned to Karen.
One of them walked over, “We have some business to attend to but I wouldn’t mind having some fun before that.” “Gotta get some information for the boss” The other one walked over to her as well. He placed his gun under her chin and continued to make threatening remarks.
All of the sudden, the window shattered and a short staff knocked one of her captors out completely.
“What the hell?!”
The remaining guard raised his gun but he was no match for the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen who seemingly jumped into the room from the large cracked window. He landed a clean kick on the guard who flew into the wall with a thud. Karen continued to watch from her assigned seat in shock. ‘How did he know to come here?’ she wondered as it certainly was not a lively part of Hell’s Kitchen. He proceeds to knock the living daylights out of her second captor with an easy punch. The vigilante then cocked his head to the side which made Karen think he was listening for something but she was unsure.
After a second he turned to her and approached slowly.
“Are you okay?” His voice was low and quiet. Daredevil took another step closer and kneeled down to untie her restraints.
Karen questioned why he was acting so careful with her but realized when she answered.
She was barely able to produce a, “yeah” and noticed that her entire body was shaking. She didn’t know if it was because of the cold or the shock but her best guess was both. Looking into the glazy eyes of his mask unsettled her for a second as she was stuck staring at an unfocused reflection of herself tainted red. But that went away when he helped her get up from her chair and they started to make their way out of the building. His touch was solid and warm and Karen leaned on him as they limped their way out of the room.
As the two of them made their way through a hallway, the vigilante stopped his steps and turned towards Karen.
“You’re still bleeding,” he said matter-of-factly. Karen glanced over at her arm and noticed that there was indeed a stream of blood dripping down her side. Without hesitation, he pulled out gauze from one of his many little pockets and lightly grabbed her arm. The movement to bandage her arm was slow but comforting as he repeated the motion of layering the gauze on her injured arm. Karen’s heart briefly threatened to race and her breath was caught in her throat when she thought too hard about her current predicament. But she forced her panic back down right as Daredevil continued with the impromptu care.
She briefly wondered how he had even known of her wound but didn’t question it much. It must come with the vigilante/hero territory.
“Do you have any idea why they kidnapped you?” His voice remained the same low and quiet tone as earlier.
“Honestly, no. I think I’ve lost count of how many organizations I’ve pissed off with my articles at this point. Comes with the job.” She shrugged and forced a single laugh but it came out tired instead.
He grimaced at her answer and opened his mouth to say something but he stopped.
Daredevil continued to solidify her bandage when Karen let out a quivering sigh. In that moment, she suddenly felt the events of that day surge through her body and overwhelm her entirely. ‘Why is my life always like this?’ she thought to herself and felt herself tear up. She felt pathetic that she was standing in a creepy hallway being saved by Hell’s Kitchen’s infamous vigilante but also felt comfort in his presence as she was finally safe from whoever attacked her tonight.
Her body proceeded to move without permission. She was unable to process her own body movements as she took a risky move. Leaning forward, she cupped Daredevil’s face and before she could will her body to stop, she slowly kissed him. Her heart threatened to jump out of her throat and a single thought of, ‘What the hell are you doing’ raced through her mind.
As she was about to back off, Daredevil reciprocated her unprompted kiss. After a few seconds, the both felt a pause and naturally parted their lips.
Without thinking, Karen blurts, “I’m sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking.”
The masked man grinned slightly and replied, “It’s fine.” Karen could feel her cheeks getting red and thanked him again for helping her tonight.
They both resumed their trip to get outside as they passed through numerous corridors and dark rooms. Eventually they opened up steel doors which led to an alleyway outside.
“Thank you.” She pours all of the sincerity she can at the moment and thanks the vigilante that saved her life.
“Be careful out there Karen.”
She starts her walk home. Everytime she thought of the kiss, it brought a flush of red to her cheeks. She didn’t know if it was the exhaustion from that night or admiration which made the kiss so unforgettable. She continues to make her way home and can’t help but feel that he is still watching from afar.
Another thought irks her in the back of the mind. When had she heard someone say her name like that?