Hellcat

Chapter Twenty-Six

I went back to the office to find Karen and Foggy had returned. "Over-due, past due, final notice," Foggy was listing off from his office, staring at a pile of bills. Karen sat at her desk. When she saw me enter, she offered a half-smile. "Hey! First notice. That's a win," Foggy called out. I scoffed, shaking my head. He jumped in his chair, staring at me in surprise. "Jeez, why have we not invested in a bell for you, seriously," Foggy huffed out, letting himself calm down. I just smiled, shaking my head.

"Karen, did you see her come in?" Foggy called, but she didn't respond. "Karen?" he called once more, getting up from his chair. I turned in the doorway of his office to find Karen staring at her computer, her full attention locked onto the screen. "What are you working on?" I asked her. "Um, the morgue reports," she responded distractedly. "What?" Foggy questioned her. "Uh, you know, the stuff the DA showed us. I'm just running some searches on the names int the databases," she mumbled. "Karen..." Foggy groaned softly. She hesitated to speak, but glanced up at me.

"We could have been one of these people, Foggy," she explained, looking from me to him as a way of including me. "He was after Grotto," Foggy tried to explain. "I know. But how long can I tell myself this is just bad luck? Fisk? And now this guy? I mean, what if I'm drawing this stuff my way?" she asked us. "You're not. You're gonna be fine. Punisher is just a nickname," Foggy tried to assure her. "Yeah, well, what if I deserve it?" she asked in a hushed tone. Sighing, I leaned forward onto her desk. "You don't," I insisted.

She gave a small nod before sighing, brushing some stray hair back from her face, she shook her head. "None of this feels real," she muttered. "That asshole opened fire in a hospital. You're not the one who deserves to be punished," Foggy agreed with me. Karen offered a ghost of a smile, but I knew it wasn't genuine. "And plus, you got away, which kind of makes you awesome," he added, trying to lift her spirits. She let out a small chuckle, her smile becoming real. "I guess," she muttered with a nod.

"Coffee? I'm buying," Foggy said, changing the subject completely. "In that case, okay," Karen agreed. Foggy smiled and went to get his things. Karen let out a shuddering breath, rubbing the back of her neck nervously now that he was gone. I stood and shifted around the desk. Resting a hand on her shoulder, I gave it a gentle squeeze. She reached up and squeezed my hand in a sort of response.

"How you holding up?" I asked her, keeping my voice at a whisper. "I really don't enjoy being used for target practice," she replied, her voice just as shaky as her shoulders. "It doesn't get better. Not really. After all this time, the fighting still scares me. But I've gotten used to living with the fear," I told her. She finally glanced up at me. "What does it feel like? Living like that?" she whispered softly. I sighed, pausing to think about it. How to describe something that I barely let myself notice anymore.

"It feels like..." I paused, looking for the right words. I let that fear creep into my body, filling my veins. I had to steel myself against it, clenching my jaw. I remembered it now – how it felt. The constant fear. "...like a black pit in your gut. No matter how you try to fill it – to make it go away – it never does. That's why I've found it's good to have something to distract you from it," I told her. She gave a small nod, processing what I said as she eyes cast back down onto the computer screen.

"Am I interrupting?" Foggy's voice called out. My head snapped up, alert eyes locking on him. He stood in the doorway of his office, watching us. "No, not at all," I said, forcing a smile before heading to my office for my purse. When I emerged, Karen had her purse as well. "Shall we?" I asked them before holding open the door for them.

"This is the frigging wire you want me to wear? Why don't I just carry a video camera with me and a guy with a boom mic?" Grotto grumbled later that night as one of DA Reyes' men taped the wire to his chest. "Relax, Grotto, you'll be fine," Karen tried to assure him. We were standing in a small room, set up to look like NASA Control or something. People with computers and radios and different equipment sat at their stations, keeping an eye on everything that was going to happen.