Work Text:
February 2nd, 7am
“If this coming storm is any indication, that pesky groundhog has seen his shadow. We have another six weeks of winter to…”
Lois Lane drones in Karen’s ear. She stretches and sighs. Her next-door neighbor, Mr. Lee, left the TV on all night. Again. The volume is so loud, Channel Five News could practically be broadcasting from her bedroom.
Grey light drifts through her curtains, the kind that signals heavy snowfall - and for a moment Karen considers going back to sleep. Then she remembers the bombing at the pier and how cold and scared that teenage girl, Annie, looked and the feeling that someone was watching her from above the O’Donnel Pub marquee.
She breathes in and out slowly, pushing aside the swirl of thoughts. No good ruminating when she’s barricaded inside all day. The mayor’s ordered the city to a halt, a feat only possible for two reasons: A worldwide pandemic or a massive snowstorm.
The small town girl from Vermont who still has a place in Karen’s heart gets a laugh out of that second reason.
Music playing from her shared wall with Mr. Stan Lee cue a commercial. Time to get out of bed and look through those files on the O’Donnel family. Matt and Foggy will be working on the case and they need their investigator to do her job.
Karen pads out to her tiny living room, surveying the space. Her laptop rests on the coffee table, papers strewn around, her fuzzy pink blanket in a heap on the couch. Her mess is perfectly illuminated by the winter scene outside her window.
No, not mess.
Karen tries to tell herself it’s fine. She didn’t leave a mess. She left everything ready so she could jump straight into work in the morning. It’s one of the perks of living alone. Being alone is a good thing. She’s fine with it. Really.
She shuffles over to her kitchen counter and pulls a bag of PROOF beans from the cupboard. Pouring the beans into the grinder, she reminds herself to check on Mr. Lee. This storm could get nasty. She grabs a sky-blue mug from the shelf above her coffee maker and waits patiently.
PIIINGGG
A text.
The coffee is practically making itself, so Karen walks back over to the couch. She smiles as she picks up her phone, Foggy’s name flashing across her screen.
Hey Karen! Can you believe this weather? I haven’t had a snow day since freshman year of college. Marci and I are hunkered down. Making some of my mom’s famous chicken soup while we still have power. Let me know if you need anything.
Sweet Foggy. Using this storm as an excuse to check up on her. - It feels like he’s been doing that a lot. – Pretending to ignore how she reacted walking past the bodega last night. Peering through the snowfall at the headlines on the news stand.
Punisher Declared Missing After Explosion at O’Donnel’s Pub on Pier 12.
Her heart skips a beat. The longing stings like a fresh wound as she remembers that damn newspaper.
The Punisher had been silent for eight months. No bullets or bodies in the street. Then fifteen minutes – fifteen goddamn minutes after – she finishes taking Annie MacDowell’s statement and leaves pier 12, he supposedly shows up. Unleashing hell on anyone connected to the O’Donnel family.
What if Frank had come out of…hiding or retirement…or whatever vigilantes call it…for her. All because Nelson, Murdock, & Page were representing Annie in her lawsuit against the O’Donnels family. It wasn’t a surprise that the family used the revenue from their chain of sports bars to finance the Irish mob. So why had Frank suddenly taken it upon himself to punish them?
Karen shakes her head, pushing away the racing thoughts. Frank made his choice long ago. She would not blame herself. She would not beg him to love her. She would not…
Fuck…
Who was she kidding. She looked around her apartment.
Coffee for one was lonely. Sitting on the couch with no one to talk to after a hellacious day at work was lonely. She would always wish he’d made a different choice that day at the hospital…but she’d be okay. She is okay.
Hey Fog. I’m fine. Catching up on a bit of work and enjoying the view. Stay warm.
She presses SEND and is about to add an emoji…but a tap interrupts her. The room falls quiet…was someone knocking earlier?
Karen puts her phone down and tiptoes towards the door. She opens it halfway to find an empty hall, save the small brown package on her doorstep. Was the mailman really out in this snowstorm?
Tappp…tap…
“Hey…Hey! Karen!”
The knock wasn’t coming from her door.
Karen turns her head just in time to see a figure hovering by the window of her fire escape.
Frank. Frank Castle.
She’s stares blankly at his coffee-colored eyes, startled by the fear she finds there.
“Karen. Please. You gotta - ”
PIINNNGG
Her phone again. It must be Foggy. She should…
BBAAAAMMM!
***
“If this coming storm is any indication, that pesky groundhog has seen his shadow. We have another six weeks of winter to…”
Lois Lane drones in Karen’s ear. She stretches and sighs. Her next-door neighbor, Mr. Lee, kept his TV on all night. Again. The volume is so loud, Channel Five News could practically be broadcasting from her bedroom.
Grey light drifts through her curtains, the kind that signals snowfall - and for a moment Karen considers going back to sleep. Then she remembers the tears in Annie’s eyes as Karen took her statement. Remembers the raw feeling of anger she felt.
No one deserves to be sexually harassed at work or anywhere else for that matter. Nelson, Murdock, & Page may be filling a lawsuit against the O’Donell family…but sometimes Karen feels so frustrated with the system. That’s why she wrote that anonymous op-ed for the Bulletin.
Tappp…tap…
“Hey…”
She bolts out of bed, reaching for the .380 by her nightstand. It sounds like someone is at her living room window. It sounds like…
“Hey! Karen!”
Frank. Frank Castle.
Where the hell has he been for the past eight months?
Karen tiptoes slowly into the living room, feeling an eerie sensation. Like déjà vu. Sure enough, Frank’s broad-shouldered form is on the other side of the window. He points at her phone.
She’s stares blankly at his coffee-colored eyes, startled by the fear she finds there.
“Karen. Please. Turn off your phone. The Counselor is going to text you. You gotta - ”
The Counselor? He must mean Foggy. She should…
PIINNNGG.
BBAAAAMMM!
***
“If this coming storm is any indication, that pesky groundhog has…”
Lois Lane drones in Karen’s ear, sending her heart into overdrive. Her next-door neighbor, Mr. Lee, kept his TV on all night. Again. The volume is so loud, Channel Five News could practically be…
What the fuck.
She looks around her bedroom, an eerie feeling of déjà vu washing over her. The grey light drifting through her window. The sound of Mr. Lee’s TV.
She’s lived this moment before.
“Hey…”
Karen bolts out of bed, reaching for the .380 by her nightstand. It sounds like someone is in the hallway. It sounds like…
“Hey! Karen!”
Frank. Frank Castle.
It almost makes her laugh. The way he enters her bedroom. Wide coffee-colored eyes. Hands above his head. Knowing full well her .380 is aimed at him on instinct. It’s so them. If they aren’t reuniting at a hospital, then there’s a gun involved.
She lowers her weapon, clicking the gun on safe.
“Hey?!? That’s how you greet me after…What the hell Frank?!!!”
She doesn’t care if she wakes up her neighbors. She doesn’t care that he probably saw the mess on her couch and the notes she has on the Annie MacDowell lawsuit. She doesn’t care that he looks so good in a black jacket and jeans while she’s in an old Gap sweatshirt. She -
“The O’Donnells can travel back in time.”
Frank has made some off the wall statements, but she never dreamed of those words flying out of his mouth.
“They create some sort of time loop. Go back a few hours and arrange things as they see fit. That’s how they repeatedly stole money from people at their sports bars. That’s how they repeatedly harassed Annie MacDowell.”
Frank is so matter of fact that Karen falls silent.
“It’s fuckin’ crazy. I know,” he breaths. “But you gotta believe me. I got here a few minutes early to warn you. You’re their new target.”
“Prove it. Prove we’re in a time loop.” She glares at him.
“You were planning on making coffee when you woke up. There’s a mug that says Penny’s Place. It’s bright blue. On shelf above your coffee maker.”
The déjà vu is real now.
“Why am their target?” She shakes her head.
Her question seems to irritate Frank. He rubs his hands across his face.
“Goddamnit. Why? Why’d you go publish that op-Ed for the Bulletin? Everyone knows your writing. The way you call out bullshit. Might as well have autographed the damn paper for the family.”
Karen strides forward, seething.
“You CANNOT show up after all this time and dictate how I -”
PIINNNGG.
Frank’s head snaps towards the living room. Where Karen left her cell phone last night.
“Shit. The bomb’s triggered by…”
BBAAAAMMM!
***
“If this coming storm is any indication, that pesky groundhog has…”
Karen leaps out of bed and races to the living room. She pushes aside the pink fuzzy blanket, searching for her phone. Turns it off with shaking hands. Is stopping Foggy’s text enough to break the time loop.
She breathes in and out slowly, pushing aside the swirl of thoughts. No good ruminating on on…whatever is happening. Not when she’s barricaded inside. Maybe she should wait for Frank on the fire escape.
His eyes light up when he sees her. Karen can’t pretend she doesn’t notice. Can’t pretend she’s not just as relieved to see him.
“Jesus,” he huffs – pulling himself up the last ladder rung. “It’s practically a blizzard out here. You must be freezing.” He’s wrapping her in his jacket before she has a chance to protest.
“Didn’t want to wait in there. It’s lonely,” Karen says. “I get tired of being lonely.”
The pause between them is ever so subtle.
“Me too,” Frank murmurs.
Karen’s tempted to ask him where he’s been since the hospital but thinks better of it. If he wanted to see her, he would have come before now. His reappearance is just because of his martyrdom complex. Sense of duty and all that.
At least that’s what she tries to tell herself. Even as he bobs his head up and down in that way he does when nervous. She tugs his jacket around her shoulders, looking down.
“So…uh…how are you?” He bobs his head again, trying to catch her gaze. “You’ve made quite a name for yourself with your lawyer buddies. I’m…it’s great to see you.”
She blinks at him. She is not letting him off that easy.
“I’ve been…ummm… working with a buddy of mine. Running a program for vets who want to get into construction work. You may have read his name in the papers. Curtis. Curtis Hoy - ”
“How’d you find out about the O’Donnel family?”
He winces and she suddenly feels bad for cutting him off.
“Well…uh…after the third or fourth time I couldn’t get to you; I called a buddy of mine. Former NSA analyst. He used to research paranormal activity in the local and national government. He gave me a whole college lecture on time and space and how certain people have the ability to alter it…Just didn’t have an answer on how to fix this.”
Something softens at her core at the look on his face. It’s the same look she remembers from that faraway night by the river. When he swore that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“Well,” she huffs, “If the O’Donnels are using cellular waves to activate the bomb, they’re out of luck. I turned my phone off. The neighbor to my right has a land line. The apartment to my left is empty.”
Frank gives a half smile. “Let me look at the package. I can have my buddy call the bomb squad at NYPD anonymously.”
He pauses and she realizes how cold fast he must have run from…wherever…to get to her. Steam is rising from the black Under Armor thermal he’s wearing. He’s sweating in the middle of a forty-degree snow fall.
“Is it okay if I…” he gestures to her open window.
Karen grins. “You already broke into my place, so…You’re always welcome in.” She hopes he doesn’t hear the catch in her voice.
Frank bobs his head and slides through the window. She watches as he stalks towards the door. Opens it.
“Shit,” he mutters. “They did a good job of making it nondescript. Just a brown cardboard box.”
PIINNNNG.
Karen freezes as a ring emits from Frank’s pocket. Frank looks down.
“David…”
BBAAAAMMM!
***
Lois Lane’s voice is a welcome sound when Karen wakes. It’s Groundhog Day again which means Frank’s alive despite taking the brunt of the explosion.
She lets her eyes adjust to the grey light outside her bedroom window. Peers through the open door to her living room. Laptop in its formal resting place. Papers strewn over the couch. The pink blanket in a heap. Somehow it feels less of a lonely scene knowing Frank will be here soon.
***
They get creative the next few go arounds.
Throw their cell phones off the fire escape the fourth time. Add Karen’s laptop to the aerial trash on round five. Still, the bomb goes off. A kid with Uber Eats calling someone because he’s on the wrong floor. The mailman walking down the stairwell.
“The mayor advised people to stay indoors!” Frank grumbles handing his jacket to Karen before their – well technically her – sixth go around the loop. “Does no one take orders anymore?”
Karen smiles, watching the snow shimmer around Frank. “You didn’t.”
His eyes widen. He grins. “Touché.”
***
Then they get tired.
Maybe tired isn’t the right word. Maybe complacent.
Or maybe they’re both enjoying an excuse to be in each other’s company. Karen has to admit that fact.
At one point, Frank barrels up the fire escape to find her holding two steaming cups of coffee. One in her blue Penny’s Place mug. The other in a bright red mug with a suspicious white double “D” on the side.
Frank eyes the mug in mock horror. “You really bought a Devil of Hell’s Kitchen mug from that junky tourist trap down the street?”
“Be nice to Matt,” Karen jokingly chides. “His long-distance girlfriend just dumped him.”
“You’re not his girlfriend?” Frank avoids eye contact as he asks this.
“Hell no,” Karen laughs.
Frank looks eager to find out more when…
PIINNNNG.
“Maybe I’ll text Foggy back this…”
BBAAAAMMM!
***
They attempt to leave her apartment a few times. Slide down the fire escape and walk a few feet from the building before everything blows. Karen enjoys those loops the most.
They talk as snow falls around them.
About Frank’s family. About his time in the Marine Corps. About Amy and Frank’s misadventures on the road. About James Wesley and Fisk and Poindexter. About Karen’s work as an investigator.
Finally, they talk about Kevin.
Next loop around, Frank arrives with a look on his face. One Karen can only describe as tender.
“Thank you for telling me,” he whisperers by way of greeting. He doesn’t need to clarify about what.
Karen slides back on the couch, handing Frank a cup of coffee as he makes his way inside her apartment.
“Thank you for helping me remember.”
That look again. A tiny piece of Karen doesn’t mind if Groundhog Day last for centuries. Not when Frank Castle gives her that look.
***
During some iterations of Groundhog Day, they work.
Karen doesn’t know the first thing about time loops besides what she’s seen in movies. Still, if any information she finds can help the Annie MacDowell case, she’s willing to create a paradox in the space-time continuum. (David Lieberman’s words via email. Not her’s. Definitely not Frank’s.)
With David’s help, they track down how much money the O’Donnel family has laundered in the past three years. It’s no small amount.
The realization is sobering to them both.
“We have to try something different next time,” Karen murmurs. “Don’t come here. Meet me at Mable’s Coffee down the street. Her niece posted on Instagram that they’re still open from 6am to 2pm. Free coffee for any medical personnel or law enforcement out in the storm.”
Frank frowns at her, face illuminated by the light from her laptop.
“Don’t pout Frank. I’m perfectly capable of walking down my fire escape. Besides, we’re running out of options.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
***
Mable tries to make small talk with Karen, but she’s too anxious. Traveling back in time is starting to wear on her.
She smiles politely, placing some money in the tip jar and taking two black coffees. There’s no one else in the tiny café, except a girl with auburn hair whose facing the back wall – probably looking at the books there. Mable’s is quaint. Cozy. Almost the kind of spot for a first date.
Karen shakes her head. This isn’t a date. This is a mission. One that could end badly for her if they don’t figure this time loop out.
The bell above the front door dings. Karen turns to see Frank enter the building. He smiles at her, relief in his eyes.
“Hey,” he begins…
BAAANNNNGGG
The earth beneath Karen’s feet trembles.
“Oh my lord,” Mabel calls from the kitchen.
“Holy…” The young barista is pointing out the window.
Karen and Frank join him, witnessing a horrific sight.
Black smoke is rising from Karen’s apartment complex. Smoke so thick it blots out the falling snow. It looks like more than one bomb went off this time.
“Oh my god. My neighbors…” She thinks about Mr. Lee and the other people she’s passed in her building.
“The O’Donnel brothers must know somethin’s up,” Frank hisses.
As ambulance sirens wail in the distance, Karen feels herself reliving another accident. One she also caused.
Her face must say it all. Her eyes must be screaming Kevin’s name. Frank takes one look at her and shakes his head.
“Hey…hey.” He grabs both her hands. “It’s not your fault. I know where your mind’s going. I go there too…but we can’t. We can’t let them win.”
Karen blinks, fighting the prickling sensation at the corners of eyes. “My neighbors… none of them deserved this…I…just let me die next time.”
Frank’s face goes white. “What the hell are you talkin’ about Karen? No way am I going to let you die.”
The café feels too quiet now. Karen knows she’s talking too loudly, but she doesn’t care.
“The O’Donnels want me dead, Frank. Maybe if I finally take the blow on my own, they’ll stop all of this. At least my neighbors won’t be repeatedly terrorized.” She takes a deep breath. “Face it. This is one war you won’t win.”
There’s a loud smack as Frank bangs his hand on the nearby counter. The barista – who’d still been beside them taking in the view – backs away with an awkward yelp.
“One war. You think I’m chasing another war? You think that’s why I came to you?”
“Why else would you show up after all this time?” Anger and sadness echo in Karen’s voice. “You never reached out after the hospital. Not once! Then you show up with at the same location where I’m questioning my source!”
Frank waves his hands in front of him, like he’s begging her to understand.
“I didn’t reach out ‘cause I thought you were with Murdock! And I was terrified. Terrified to drag you into my mess again. Then I read about you and your lawyer buddies. And I see your anonymous” – he spits out the word – “op-Ed’s in the Bulletin. I thought you’d moved on. Gotten your after. So I tried to. I tried! Then David told me you were gunning for the O’Donnel brothers. I pulled my damn Kevlar out of storage.”
“I didn’t ask you to do any of that!” Karen cries. “I wanted you to find your after.”
“You are my after, Karen!” The tender look is creeping over Frank’s face, pushing away the anger. “I love you!”
“Well you’re an idiot for thinking I’d moved on without you! I love you! The words are out of Karen’s mouth before she even had time to think.
They both fall quiet.
The barista gives a slow clap and a whistle. “Hell yeah. I’m not sure about half of what I heard, but y’all need to kiss or something.”
Frank and Karen look at each other. Laughing. Crying.
“But how do we fix this?” Frank whispers. “Karen…I can’t lose you like this...”
“Who says you lose her?”
A voice behind them. It’s Annie MacDowell. Karen didn’t recognize her when she walked in the coffee shop.
“Annie? How do you know - ”
“The O’Donnel boys aren’t the only ones with faerie blood. I can alter time too. They just abuse it.”
“What are you saying?” Frank looks at the teen like she’s speaking Martian.
The girl grins, green eyes sparkling. “They also make a horrid pipe bomb. Karen, you’re injured in the blast but not badly. I just kept looping time because when Frank gets there, you two are too stubborn to admit you’re in love.” She glances between them. “You both helped me in your own way. I wanted to help you.”
“But how do we know the O’Donnels won’t try to loop time again?” Frank’s not convinced.
The girl pats a book she’s taken of the book shelf. Or maybe she’s had it with her all along. “Code. They broke it. Trust me, they won’t be bothering us again. I just had to collect enough evidence to prove their wrongdoing to the Faerie Counsel.”
“I’ve had too much caffeine today,” the forgotten barista mutters.
“Quiet,” Karen and Frank both snap at him.
Karen turns back to Annie. “I appreciate all of this Annie. I do…but I can’t let innocent people take the brunt of this for me. Even if I do live.”
“Well,” Annie wiggles her nose. “We can do more than loop time. Give me a second…”
She opens her palm, blowing softly. A fine gold dust flickers from her open hand. Shining so bright that Karen’s blinded for a moment…”
***
“If this coming storm is any indication, that pesky groundhog has seen his shadow. We have another six weeks of winter to go. In other news, the long-forgotten Punisher led NYPD in a raid of O’Donnel’s Pub. The brothers are said to have ties to the mob…”
Lois Lane drones in Karen’s ear. She bolts upright, looking around her room. Grey light drifts through her curtains, the kind that signals heavy snowfall.
There’s a light tap. One that sounds like dishes being placed on her kitchen counter.
The smell of coffee tickles her nose, and Karen jumps out of bed. She races into her living room…
PIIINGGG
A text.
Karen walks over to the couch, taking in the snowy view from the window behind it. She smiles as she picks up her phone, Foggy’s name flashing across her screen.
Hey Karen! Answer you phone! Matt and I have been worried about you. All that Punisher stuff on the news…anyway, Marci and I are hunkered down. Making some of my mom’s famous chicken soup while we still have power. Let me know if you need anything.
“The Counselor again?”
The voice lights her heart on fire. Karen turns to find Frank there – dressed in a black thermal and sweats. Holding two cups of coffee.
“I’ll text him later,” she beams. “That okay?”
Frank grins back. “Yeah. That’s okay.”