A/N (revision edition): Alrighty everyone. So, for you new people, you get the improved version of this story. Please carry on to the story.

For anyone returning and interested, I've gone through and proofread everything, so hopefully there aren't too many grammar/typo mistakes left (I always end up missing a few no matter how hard I try). More importantly, chapters 9 and 10 are almost doubled. I tried to give them more purpose, so now I suppose they're purposeful fluff. (Thanks to Like It Random for giving me the idea to chew on. It did need more stuff happening.) I'm much happier with them. Also, 8, 11, and 12 have a few new things, mostly for continuity's sake. There's a tiny bit of new content, but it probably doesn't warrant a re-read...unless you want to, which is totally fine with me. :D I feel much better about this and I hope you guys do, too. I don't for the life of me remember who mentioned wanting to read more about Matt, but that ended up happening. I guess, let me know if 13 is just sort of awkwardly hanging on to the end of the story or if it works.

January

Matt was tired. But he was almost always tired. Tired rather than exhausted was actually something of a step up.

His nose was bleeding, his knuckles were sore, and the cold was seeping into his bones through his suit, but he stopped on his way home anyway. He had somewhat intermittently over the months of the last year, since he'd told her. He knew that she didn't need it. At least, by now he did. The incident in July had been eye-opening and he'd faltered for a while after it. Even though she'd found herself both the Kitchen's best guard dog and a pit bull, he knew that Karen was far more capable of taking care of herself than he'd ever given her credit for.

But after the night he'd had, he wanted to check on her, know that for at least those minutes he stood on the roof, that she was safe.

Just because he'd loved Elektra more, differently, didn't mean he hadn't genuinely cared for Karen, loved her as the precious friend she'd always been. If he was ashamed of himself for anything over the last year, it was those weeks he'd sat there disappointed in her, judging her for what she'd done to Connor O'Brien after the man had hit her with a car and made her stare down at the sidewalk as he threatened to throw her to her death. She'd been right. She didn't know how to do what he did, what Elektra and Stick did, even what Frank did. It wasn't her fault that she'd wanted to live and had taken whatever measures she had available to make sure she did.

He hadn't quite managed to tell her so, but he was working on it. The right moment just hadn't seemed to reveal itself yet.

Letting out a sigh, hand going to his most tender rib, he sat down on the edge of the roof and settled in to listen. At one point he'd taken the time to look, trying to find her moving around her little apartment, but after one September night, he'd stopped with that. Not only was seeing her doing that with Frank something he didn't need in his brain, but he honestly wasn't there to pry. He just wanted to make sure she was safe. That Frank Castle had picked her up when he'd let her go wasn't what was important. It was that Frank Castle somehow made her happy in a way he'd failed to and he could be surly and moody about it, but he didn't begrudge them it. When he heard things he shouldn't, he moved on without lingering.

Bypassing the other people in the building, the ones down on the street, and anything else he could make out in the blocks about him, it didn't take him long to zero in on her apartment. He heard what he usually did, a running fridge, the radiator making noise in its battle against the cold, the dog whining softly in its sleep, and two relaxed, sleeping heartbeats right next to one another.

Because bearing witness to Karen's happiness somehow made his lack of it easier to handle in the wee hours of the morning, he pulled off his gloves for a moment and just focused on the comforting sounds.

Reflexes he'd had since he was a child avoiding one of Stick's many sticks had him dropping down to the top fire escape when the door to the roof opened some time later. The giggling that followed and the pungent smell of pot let him know it was nothing more than two teenagers sneaking out for a late night toke.

If he waited long enough, he could probably easily get away with neither of them suspecting a thing even if they did notice the man dressed in red sprinting before them, but what he'd discovered that night kept him from heading home. Instead, he just listened to his feet slowly descending the metal stairs until they reached her window. Settling in the corner, gazing sightlessly down at the street, he heard the two heartbeats on the other side of the brick wall change, speed up as they woke.

He could easily hear what they whispered to one another but Matt chose to let the words wash over him without really taking them in. He wasn't there to pry and he knew that the living woman he'd loved was safe but he couldn't quite make himself leave.

It didn't take long before he heard the flick of a light switch and then the sound of a window being shoved up right beside him. Breathing and hulking form hanging out into the cold, he knew it was Frank before the man spoke, voice rough with sleep, "There something we can help you with, Red?"

Explain to him how, despite all the ridiculous shit that filled their lives, they managed to be happy.

His silence was greeted by the man staring at him, elbows resting on the sill below him.

He'd never been particular good with facial expressions. His fiery vision could make them out in a general sense, but the nuances were lost to him and he had to fill in the blanks with other information. Frank wasn't giving him much, but after a few long moments, he thought the man's face hardened. It wasn't until he retreated from the window, closing it momentarily before returning clad in a heavy jacket, that Matt realized it was with determination he'd seen crease his features.

Climbing out onto the fire escape, he sat beside him with arms crossed over his chest. "Between the two of us, I'm the less scary one tonight, so you're gonna have to settle with me. What's the deal, Red? Start talking. It's cold."

"What's wrong with Karen? What do you mean?"

He heard the man smirk slightly, the corner of his mouth quirking up as breath escaped his nose. Matt wasn't sure what it meant. He was never entirely sure with Frank.

"You've never actually lived with a woman, have you, Red?" When he merely tilted his head in confusion, Frank added, "See, at fairly regular intervals, they shed the lining of one of their internal organs. The process is a bit of a bitch and they're less amenable to people waking them up in the middle of the night."

"Oh." Raising his voice slightly, he called through the slightly open window, "I'm sorry, Karen."

He wasn't going to repeat what she grumbled into the pillow beneath her head. He heard her turn over and pull her blanket more securely over her shoulder. He'd call and apologize the next day, too.

Hunching a bit more against the cold, Frank prodded, "What're you doing here, Red?"

He could only blame the shock to his system from earlier for what he blurted out, "I needed to know she's safe."

"She's pretty damn good at taking care of herself. You don't-"

"I know!" Matt interrupted, letting out a deep breath. "I know. I just…She's the only one left and I needed to…"

Frank was looking at him, his features still as he appraised the man beside him, except for a twitching trigger finger that was slowly starting to drive him crazy. The constant tapping against his jacket was to Matt's ears what he remembered pacing being like when he could still see. It put him on edge when his chest was already heaving, his brain going haywire.

He still couldn't believe it. How? Why? What in God's name…?

His labored breathing was the loudest thing in his ears until Frank asked slowly, "This have anything to do with the woman on the roof? The one who died."

Closing his eyes, Matt vaguely nodded as he leaned his head back against the brick. "They dug her up. I haven't been back until tonight. I don't even know why. I just felt like going to see her tonight and the hole in the ground was empty. It has been for months. I don't know if they're trying to bring her back or…or steal something from her body or what, but…"

"More ninjas?"

"Probably the same ones. Elektra was kind of like their god. She's dead and they can't even give her a little peace."

Frank sighed, running a hand down his face, "You always have to make shit more complicated, don't you, Red."

He didn't argue with that and they fell back into silence. He couldn't believe he'd just shared anything with Frank Castle of all people, but he couldn't deny that he felt better. His brain was quieter, not so damn preoccupied with spinning itself off its axis inside his head. Along with everything else he was, Frank was strangely…solid. Maybe Karen was onto something. Or maybe he finally needed to admit that Claire was right. Being a living martyr, alone and isolated for everyone else's protection, wasn't very good for his psyche.

Frank sat with him in silence for probably longer than he should have let him. Hearing Karen wake up again inside the apartment, her hand running along the empty space next to her, Matt finally stood. Readjusting his gloves, he wasn't sure what to say as the man beside him went back to the window, knowing without asking that their little session was over.

The words came out before Matt really thought about them. "Can you tell her I'm sorry…for tonight, for the last few months…"

He heard the corner of Frank's mouth quirk up again, "I'm not your messenger, Red. Not tonight. Tell her yourself."

There was some wisdom to that Matt couldn't deny. He'd been being a coward about Karen for a while. Taking shortcuts through Frank wouldn't fix what he wanted to repair. He nodded slowly, "Good night, Frank."

"See you around, Red."

He was halfway up the fire escape when the window closed behind the man, a quick click indicating it was locked. The kids from earlier were gone and the roof was empty. With the cold in the air and exhaustion that wasn't entirely physical pulling at him, Matt knew he should go home.

Instead, leaning against the roof's edge, he pulled off his gloves and mask, blinking up at the sky he couldn't see. It took about fifteen minutes and he ignored the words that came in the interim, but the sounds he was waiting for settled steadily into place before long.

For just a little while, he didn't want to think about Elektra's body out there somewhere, probably held by the Hand who wanted to do who knew what with it. He didn't want to think about how he spent his nights running around in 'boys' pajamas' or how much he missed practicing law with Foggy. He didn't want to think about the strange thing his life had become.

So, he sat and let the proof of Karen's happiness calm his mind as the sound of two heartbeats filled his ears.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading, review if the desire takes you, and I hope you enjoyed! :)