It's like he's always said: crisis brings people together faster than anything else. It forces them to be their best, and he doesn't think that holds truer for any two people more than Frank Castle and Karen Page. They've come a long way since their first week here - Frank refusing to give her his room number and Karen refusing to admit she needed him. Now they've fallen solidly into one another's orbit in a deliberate, meaningful way; and not like the way they drift in and out of each other's lives back home.

"You didn't," he points out, however meekly, wishing he could return even a tiny fraction of the comfort she's been to him. He steels himself, bravely lifting a numb hand and setting it on her waist. It's the best he can do to return the hug, but it's also much more than he's dared since his predicament started up. She kisses his head and while he can't feel it, he remembers what it feels like, the sound of it conjuring up the memory easily. "What if it doesn't? What if my hearing goes again? What if it's something else next?" He knows he shouldn't challenge her like that, but the fear is obvious in his voice anyway, even he can hear it plainly.