Karedevil

Mice

He's right, of course. Karen can't stand watching him go, worrying about how hurt he'll be, when he'll come back, and whether he'll come back. She hates slipping needles through his skin almost as much as she hates leaving him to sew his own stitches. She hates knowing he's going to get himself killed one of these days. But she knows she's not leaving, and she knows he's not changing, and she doesn't even want him to, not truly. He wouldn't be Matt if he weren't Daredevil, any more than she would be Karen if she didn't try to set things right. It's what she does.

"I want to be here when you get back, Matt."

"But you can't." Matt's knows how relieved she is when he gets back, and it tells him how worried she is when he's gone. He's thought so many times about giving it up again.

"Not anymore. I can't stay here doing nothing while you're out there. I just... please call me. If you need me for anything, if you want to talk, if you just want me here, I'm only a call away. Don't hesitate. Don't even think about it. I want to be here for you."

"I understand." He never expected her to wait up. She's not leaving. No, she's making their relationship more sustainable.

"Promise you'll call me. Often."

And he does, because he knows she means it, because he wants her to be free, and because Karen has never abandoned him. He calls her over after a long night of bashing people's faces in and getting nowhere closer to the truth. He just wants someone to talk to. She smells like... rats? Mice?

What key piece of information, Matt wonders, have I missed? What don't I know about Karen that would explain keeping pet mice? Perhaps a pet snake? He doesn't ask, though. He knows she's holding something back, but he also knows it's not fair that he can always tell, and he thinks it's safe enough to leave her secret rodents be. He's doing everything he can think of to make sure it works.

It's far too little, of course, but she takes it and somehow she makes it enough. A year goes by, and they're still holding on tight. The smell of mice has faded into the smell of Karen just like the smell of candles was a part of Father Lantom and the smell of Marci is a part of Foggy. Matt doesn't notice it again until it's gone. "I set them free," Karen tells him. She doesn't need them anymore. She's experimenting on herself now.