on thin ice [karen/frank - marvel]

thirty six: i now pronounce your stomach pumped

Frank was alone when he woke which was unusual. There was no snoring from the other room coming from Scott and the room was at an average temperature. He sat up, his body clock being completely out of balance so that he ended up waking at 7:30. He looked around the room and how bright it was that early on. The light colours on the wall were to thank for that, the sunrise streaming through the shades.

He reached for his bag that lay against the side of the bed. He pulled out the thick box, opening it and seeing that the all the packets were empty. He cursed quietly, rolling out of bed as pain-free fully as he could. It didn't work. He grabbed his keys and phone from the bedside table and stood, taking the sweatshirt from the end of his huge bed and putting it on. He did the same with sweatpants before picking up his boots. Rummaging through his backpack once more, he found a bottle of water.

Frank crept along the hallway, wondering who was sleeping in what room; where Karen was sleeping. The house was warm, reminding him majorly of Karen's apartment. He almost didn't want to leave. He finally found the stairs, heading down them toward the door.

"Frank?"

He turned quickly, almost dropping his boots onto the marble flooring. He saw Maggie stood by the bottom of the stairs with two trash bags in her hands. He waved a little. "Just left something in my car, that's all"

Maggie nodded. "Oh right"

Frank then headed outside swiftly, walking down the gravelly pathway toward the car. It looked out of place compared to the others; even the colouring looked off. For a rental, it was in desperate need of a wash. He shoved the key into the lock and opened the door, leaning into the car as he rummaged around. The stretch hurt his back, causing him to groan as he reached for the box of pills on the flooring behind his seat. Once he reached them, he pulled himself out of the position and sat in the seat, sighing loudly.

His back throbbed violently as he tried to relax into the chair. He opened the box of pills and took two out quickly. Swallowing them down with the water, he sighed loudly, sitting there in the car until the pain died down to some extent. Frank closed his eyes as he lay back against the seat, feeling himself falling back to sleep as he did. Even though it never felt like a proper sleep completely, he didn't know how long he lay there before his phone rang.

Jumping up in the seat, he realised the pain in his skin had dulled. His phone flipped in the air and landed on the floor by his feet. He sighed, reaching for it quickly. Once he grabbed it, he saw Gabriela's name flicker across the screen. "Hello?"

"You are never going to believe this shit, Frank" she said quickly, Frank perking up. Her tone alerted him, and he didn't even have time to run possible scenarios through his mind before his mouth opened.

He began to get out the car, shoving the box of pills in his back pocket. They didn't fit comfortably, the box more of an off square shape than a usual rectangular box he'd had in the past. "What?"

"Jesse Sardarov turned up to my house with speed in his bag" She blurted quickly, seeming to take a huge sigh of relief after speaking. "Like, he actually had it in his bag. A huge load of it"

Frank stopped as he shoved the car door closed. It slammed in the silence as he stood there, the wind picking up around him. He regretted wearing only a vest top to go to his car. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am" Gabriela answered. "God, everything was such a blur, it was crazy. Mike actually thought it was his! I knew it couldn't be given what you've told me is going on with Scott's marriage, I knew they'd be something to do with his wife. Scott is absolutely fuming, he is so angry I have never seen anything like it"