claire temple + matt murdock + karen page
the arena
high [violence, character death] | complete
DAY 1
Bright sunlight filtered past her eyelids, and Claire’s brow furrowed in rebellion. Did she forget to close the blinds the night before? Did she -
Her eyes blinked open slowly, and she wasn’t inside at all. A clear blue sky stretched out above her, interrupted by palm trees.
“Matt?” She sat up quickly. Where was she? The best she could tell, it was a nondescript tropical landscape, nothing particularly memorable or recognizable. What had Atlantis done this time?
“Matt?”
“Claire!”
Several yards away, Matt groaned. After waking and reaching for Claire (finding nothing but dirt) he meant to stand but felt the earth pitch him about. This wasn’t their world; but it wasn’t not Atlantis. Something seemed different and wrong. He sat for a moment and forced himself to breathe mindfully before he at last scrambled to his feet.
His hand stretched out for her, expecting to feel her warmth as her heartbeat was close and strong. But the heat of the sun? The crash of waves? He wasn’t sure what it meant.
“Claire?”
“I’m here, I’m --” His voice drew her towards him, and once she spotted Matt, Claire didn’t waste any more time racing towards him. (Later, she knew she’d probably over-analyze that decision, to concentrate first on finding Matt instead of figuring out what had happened or where she was.)
She nearly crashed into Matt. She would have if the sand hadn’t slowed her approach a little, giving her a buffer. But her hands reached out, landing on his arms like they were anchors. “Are you okay?”
Matt nodded, a beat slower than usual. The environment around them was a riot of sound and scent. He clung to Claire and strained his ears, attempting to gauge at least who surrounded them and where they were. “A beach?” he said after a moment. “At least a dozen others.”
“Yeah,” Claire confirmed. The sand was soft under her feet, and she could hear the waves crashing on the shore not too far away. The sun was warm on the back of her neck. It would’ve been nice if they’d chosen to take a trip to the beach, but as it was, she was scanning every inch of land and water she could see, looking for answers. “I don’t -- I don’t know what this is. It isn’t Atlantis Beach. It’s someplace else. More tropical.” She had no idea what they were meant to do or how they’d ended up there.
Or, for that matter, how to get home.
She took in a deep breath. “At least we’re together.”
“We are. I have the universe to thank for always being smart enough to put the two of us next to one another.”
Sorting through the melee of sound crashing against him, Matt’s eyes seemed to search the space between them. He wanted to identify the people as friend or foe. But before he could, he sucked in a deep breath. “Karen’s here.”
“What?”
Somehow, Claire hadn’t expected that. She didn’t know why. Maybe because Atlantis hadn’t touched her yet, or COS hadn’t touched her, whichever was responsible here. Maybe Karen herself just seemed untouchable. But hearing that she was somewhere with them made Claire’s heart leap, and she wasn’t sure if she was more afraid for Karen or relieved. “Where?”
Matt’s head jerked over his shoulder as if the soundwaves and scents coating the manufactured world around them gave him some modicum of sight. “Right there. We …”
But he was cut off as an all-too-delighted male voice bubbled over the air. It took him off his guard and gasped, ducking his head with pain as it announced where they were and what they were meant to be doing.
Claire whipped her head around in the direction Matt indicated, but she didn’t see Karen’s familiar shock of strawberry blonde hair. Maybe she wasn’t close, maybe --
”Welcome to the games!” Claire frowned. It wasn’t -- it couldn’t be, could it?
Her hand slid down to Matt’s and gripped it tightly. “Shit, this is the Hunger Games.” There was no way to know if this was like the dream simulation or something more serious, at least as far as she could tell. She could recognize a few faces, and she didn’t think anyone would willingly kill her, but what if they weren’t themselves? What if they were COS agents? The voice was telling them about a pile of items that was about to appear, and Claire knew the games were about to start. “Don’t leave me. Whatever happens, we do this together.”
The Hunger Games? If it weren’t Atlantis, Matt would be incredulous and likely even slightly snobbish. He’d had his fill of teen love triangles and though Foggy had dared him, let him off with a flip remark and a promise to watch Whatever Happened to Baby Jane instead. He didn’t know much about the world.
But he knew by reputation - and the tone of Claire’s voice - it wasn’t good.
“Okay let’s go.”
This was bad, Claire thought as the voice stopped. There was no telling what the arena would throw at them. If it was anything like she remembered from the books and movies, threats wouldn’t just include other people.
Right on cue, a pile of items appeared nearby, so Claire tugged on Matt’s hand. “Come on, we gotta see if we can get anything. Weapons, food, bags.”
Matt picked up the pack that lay directly at his feet and strapped it to his back before holding his arms out in the expectation that Claire would further fill them. As he waited, he cocked his head to the side and listened. There was a rushing in the ground; it wasn’t unlike water. But there was nothing natural to it. Something, he believed, was coming their way. And he tensed.
“Get ready.”
As the noise grew louder, Claire tried to hurry, tossing whatever was closest at Matt without taking the time to look at what it was. They could sort that out later; whatever he heard had put him on high alert, and Claire trusted his instincts more than anything.
All of a sudden, a group of bears charged through the underbrush and into view, heading directly for everyone, and Claire couldn’t help the yelp of alarm that left her lips.
It was that rush of bodies that made him lose his bead on Karen. He swore and put himself between Claire and the nearest creature to them. That bear, for its trouble, was punched in the throat. It staggered backward and he took her by the hand.
“Run.”
DAY 3
Karen had barely slept. She spent the first night backed up in one of the caves she’d managed to climb into on the west side of the island. She’d been lucky to grab a handful of items the first day - a backpack, some survival tools, a first aid kid, and some trail mix. With the trail mix nearly gone, she knew she needed to venture out further to try to find food and water. Alone and without any idea where most of the others were, Karen cautiously started to trek towards the east side of the island. Other than the obvious connection to the Hunger Games franchise, she had no idea what was going on. She’d seen Matt and Claire that first day and had tried to get to them, but the bear attack forced her to get out of there in a hurry. By the time she’d gotten her bearings again, she’d lost them.
Now a couple of days had passed, and she’d barely run into anyone yet. Her only weapon was a large stick she’d managed to find inside of the cave that seemed sturdy. Her kit had matches and a lighter but no knives or anything one normally thought of as a weapon.
As she walked, she came upon a few apple trees that looked promising. There was always the chance that she’d start seeing something crazy after eating them, but she knew she needed to eat something else soon. While she picked a handful of apples and dropped them into her backpack, Karen heard a whispered voice and froze. As quietly as she could, she collected her items and ducked behind a brush. She hoped that people wouldn’t followed the Games’ true nature, but people could commit all sorts of acts out of desperation. She knew that better than most. So, she just waited for the person to pass by or reveal themselves.
In the chaos of the first hour, they’d gotten a fix on Karen and lost her again just as quickly. Claire watched a slew of emotions flicker over Matt’s face as they struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Eventually, they’d needed to seek safety themselves -- but Claire knew neither of them would give up as long as they thought Karen was out there somewhere.
The second day had been uneventful, and now on their third, Claire was starting to worry that something really bad had happened. Relying on Matt’s senses was hard. She trusted him and his judgment, but she couldn’t hear what he did, so she was in a near-constant stream of panic as she imagined the possibilities that lay ahead of them.
When he lifted a hand for them to stop, Claire froze. “Is it --”
Of all the places COS could have taken Matt Murdock, it was likely that a simulated environment was the worst. Matt relied so heavily on the world around him that when faced with the surreality of the arena, he had to re-orient himself and that meant not just hours of listening and questioning himself but also the added stress of keeping Claire safe and losing contact with …
“Karen!” Matt’s voice was rough; the island was a strain and it didn’t sit well in the lines on his face. But with a renewed vigor, he took Claire by the hand and dove toward that familiarly beating heart.
As she waited, Karen stayed crouched behind the brush with the stick gripped tightly in her hand. What she wouldn’t give to have her pistol on her right now. The sound of a familiar voice calling out her name made her suck in a breath, and she froze in place. Was this a trick? Then she heard it again, and Karen stood up to see both Claire and Matt coming towards her. She dropped her stick and closed the distance between them quickly, throwing herself into a fierce hug with both of them.
“Matt, you’re here,” she said and let out a long breath that she felt like she’d been holding for the last two days. They were still here on this damn island, but at least now them again. After pulling back from Matt, she reached over and hugged Claire tightly.
“Are you guys okay?” She asked and looked between both of them. They seemed alright on the surface. “Have you seen anyone else since we were all split up?”
Matt couldn’t relax - not when the entire arena still lay ahead of them - but he knew that both Karen and Claire were safe. So for that moment, he gave a tired half smile.
“We’ve been better. There’s a group around the caves. Edmund and his sister are trying to get them to stay together.”
As relieved as Claire was to find Karen, she knew they weren’t out of the woods. In fact, she was sure she was going to be more anxious going forward, like she imagined Matt was. She could tell the tightness around his eyes and in his smile was out of worry.
“Everyone seems to be doing okay from what I’ve heard,” Claire added. There’d been a disagreement between Edmund and someone else about what the right thing to do was, and Claire genuinely had no idea what the right answer was. She didn’t know the rules here, not if this was created by COS. “How are your food supplies? Water?”
“That's good at least,” Karen said with a small sigh. She's been so worried about the two of them and how everyone else was managing within the arena, and now she could at least keep an eye on Matt and Claire without worrying herself to death.
“I have a little food left, but I came this way to try collecting a little more. My trail mix is mostly gone, though I found some apples.” She motioned with her thumb to the backpack on her shoulders. “Water has been scarce, but I've got a few miscellaneous supplies and a first aid kid in here. If we need fire, I've got a lighter and some matches. How about you guys? Were you headed somewhere just now?”
Karen glanced over her shoulder out of habit and paranoia. She didn't hear anything, but she knew those bears on the first day were just the tip of the iceberg if the movies and books were anything to go by.
Claire leveled her gaze at Karen like she thought the other woman should’ve known the answer to her question. Instead of telling Karen about their own supplies (which weren’t what Claire would have wanted for a multiple-day excursion into the wilderness, and certainly not enough to sustain two people, let alone three, even if one of the parties gave his portion away so someone else could eat first), she just gave Karen a weary smile.
“We were headed to find you.”
“ … and so we have. I trust (within reason) what’s happening at the caves. I say we go back there and keep an eye on what’s going on. There’s more capable fists than just our three to fight in that way,” Matt reasoned, his weight flicking between the two women as he listened first to one and then the other.
“Are we comfortable with that?”
Karen smiled a little at Claire's remark about coming to find her. She figured they'd be looking for her off and on as much as they could but she also trusted that they were making sure to take care of themselves too.
“Works for me,” Karen said and hoisted her backpack back onto her shoulders. “We can regroup and figure out what to do from there.”
He smiled, the tightness briefly out of his eyes. “I feel good knowing you two have my back.”
DAY 5
Although she knew she should have been spending more time with the group, Claire felt like there were too many eyes on her.
There probably were. They wouldn’t have been wrong to worry. She felt unmoored.
Having people to take care of and injuries to treat helped, to a point, but once that was done, Claire found herself drifting away from the group in search of somewhere quiet to sit. They’d woken up in a mountain range that morning, a far cry from the sandy beach they’d been on the day before. There was something strange and different about the arena, compared to the ones she’d read about, that Claire sometimes wondered if it was even real. But everything still felt like it was, moreso than the nightmares had felt in January. Matt’s pain and the way his heartbeat slipped away from her and the way his body grew cold -- it all felt real.
She finally found a rock outcropping to sit on, and she tucked her knees up to her chest and looked out over the mountains. What was she supposed to do now?
One doesn't really forget the smell of burned flesh. When the lightning struck, Karen heard the boom first but had no time whatsoever to brace for the force that sent her flying backwards to the ground. When she came to, her ears had been ringing, and she saw Claire over Matt’s body. He was dead. This was the second time Karen had grieved Matt Murdock, but this time she couldn't deny the truth. This time they'd seen his body.
For the most part, Karen felt numb. She went through the motions, refusing to break, and kept an eye on Claire as best that she could. It seemed to her that Claire had taken up the same practice as she had by doing what she could to find a way to be useful.
It was a little while into the next day that she looked up at one point and realized Claire was gone. Another look around, and she caught the glimpse of her drifting from the main group. Karen hesitated but eventually followed after her to the rock formation and quietly approached, sitting down next to her.
After a minute or two of not speaking, she offered, “It's quiet here. Calm.” Too bad it was all an illusion.
If anyone else had sat down next to her, Claire wasn’t afraid to admit to herself that she would’ve told them to go away. She’d walked away specifically to be alone, not so she could socialize. Karen was dealing with the same thing she was, however, and Claire didn’t have the heart to push her away when Karen was the only other person there who really understood.
She turned her head a little when Karen spoke, and then looked back out at the view with a heavy sigh. “For now.” Already, she was anticipating something might come through and change that. “Wonder what they have up their sleeves next.”
“Yeah,” Karen agreed. “Whatever it is, I doubt we'll be able to prepare for it.” Maybe she should have been optimistic and believe that they might have a fighting chance if they stuck together or stayed vigilant. After seeing one of her best friends die, though, she wasn't feeling the least bit optimistic. No, she was feeling like they were all biding their time until the inevitable happened. Only one could win, right?
Karen didn't even bother bringing up what happened. She didn't want to talk about it, and she guessed neither did Claire. It was too soon and still hard to believe was even real. They'd been up against too much, fought too hard for this to have happened. An entire building had collapsed on top of him, and he'd lived to fight another day. Thinking about that lightning strike only enhanced the anger she was already feeling.
“Do you ever wish or think you should have gone back home before this?” Karen asked, thinking out loud.
A breath escaped Claire’s lips, almost a laugh, but without any sense of happiness behind it. “Only every single second he’s been gone,” she admitted. She hadn’t known it when they’d first arrived, that he’d been alive under their very noses, but she’d known for months now. At first, she’d thought Atlantis was their own chance. She knew better now: it was possible they’d find each other again in New York.
“We could’ve avoided…” Claire’s voice trailed off, because she knew she didn’t have to finish. Karen understood. “At least he was okay at home. At least I knew I’d see my mother again. At least…” Her voice cracked. “We were all okay.”
Karen did understand, and she felt the same. The truth was, after randomly showing up en masse with the others at the end of last year, Karen never planned to stick around for the long haul. She didn’t think she could contribute in a way that would help the cause like so many of the others could. She could write a good story and could get to the bottom of even the most complicated of events, but she hadn’t been sure how that would be fighting for the cause. Matt, though, he convinced her to stick it out and stay. Home would always be waiting for them on the other side and wouldn’t miss them while they were here. Now she was questioning whether or not she should have been convincing the two of them to go back home with her.
“He is okay at home,” she said and looked over at Claire. “We all are, and you will see her. Everyone has said that if we choose to go back or if we’re sent back unexpectedly, we’re back home without any time passing. I have to believe that it’s true even in here. We leave, we go back home.” Karen placed her hand on top of Claire’s and gave it a squeeze. “We have to believe that.”
“But I don’t -” While Claire wanted to believe that was all true, that they simply returned to their own timelines, there would still be a gaping hole in her world even if she went back. Claire didn’t know Matt was alive in their world; they were nothing to each other anymore.
She finally settled on, “we won't be able to get this back.” Matt believed they’d find each other anywhere, and Claire wanted to believe that, too. She knew she should. But in the face of his death, she wasn’t sure. “I don’t even know he’s alive, Karen. No one's told me. No one called me. I’m supposed to be happy to go back and lose everything there, too? You’re the one who gets to see him again. I don’t know if I ever will.”
Karen nodded sadly. She knew that it was different for Claire because she and Matt hadn’t reconnected after what had happened with The Hand. It was only because she and Foggy had practically forced Matt to let them back in his life that they’d even managed to do so. She wanted to tell Claire that she would see him again. Matt would need help getting patched up all over again as he always did, and he’d call her for a favor. It wasn’t a promise she could make, though, so she kept the words to herself. She couldn’t promise to be the one to call her because she never would remember any of this happened just as she nor Matt would. It wasn’t fair to them. Nothing about this damn place was fair.
“Screw him for being the one to die first,” Karen said suddenly after a moment. She was angry. Not at Matt specifically, but he was an easy target since he wasn’t here and they didn’t have any way of taking out their anger directly at the people who had put them here.
“He’d be so mad that he’s not here to protect us.” Claire might’ve laughed at how ridiculous that was if she wasn’t so sad. “But he wouldn’t do it any other way. He’ll always pick being the martyr.” This time, when Claire said it, there was no derision; she understood that choice a little better than she had before, and she didn’t fault him for it this time around. He’d been good in Atlantis, after all. He’d been steady.
“You know what’s really stupid about all of this? He wanted to get married. And now he won’t ever -- it meant so much to him. And now it’s just gone up in smoke, and I keep thinking, I could’ve…” Claire’s voice trailed off. She could’ve given that to him.
Karen did laugh a little. Not true laughter, but a bitter one that half caught in her throat. Claire was definitely right about that. Matt would have wanted to be the martyr. If given the choice, he would have thrown himself in front of them if he suspected for even a moment that one of them was in danger. He’d already done that many times before they ever showed up in Atlantis. This was the second time she’d grieved him, and she probably was a little, illogically angry with him about that.
She turned to face Claire at the admission. It wasn’t too surprising to her that Matt wanted to get married. Karen didn’t know what to say to her about it, though. He was gone, and now they could never make that happen. She simply sighed. “The ‘what ifs’ will drive you crazy if you let them.” She’d had a few of those moments herself, but not under these type of circumstances.
“But it’s not stupid. It meant a lot to him, but you meant more.”
“And look where it got us,” Claire muttered. At least Matt didn’t have to sit around New York remembering what he’d had and lost in Atlantis, she thought. She didn’t regret any part of it beyond not giving in sooner. If she’d known how little time they’d had left, she wouldn’t have held back so much.
It wasn’t doing her any good to dwell, though. Claire glanced over her shoulder towards the rest of the group. “I hope they can find us before we lose anyone else.”
Karen's gar followed Claire's back over towards the rest of the group. Most of them she didn't really know even if several of them were from home and she's read about them in the papers. Losing Matt made her realize just how much she missed Foggy and others from home, and usually she wished he would show up one of these days. Not today, though. Karen didn't want Foggy showing up if this was how their lives would end up - for however long they lasted.
“Yeah, me too,” she agreed, but the realist part of her didn't actually think that would happen. She didn't expect that the rest of Atlantis would find them in time. Maybe before there was one person left standing, depending on how long that took, but not before someone else was hurt or killed. If she was honest with herself, she didn't really expect to make it out of this arena alive - not that would keep her from fighting to stay alive or fighting for the others.
“Who knows, maybe Katniss will show up and break us all out of here,” she said with a small smile to herself. Karen sighed and looked back out over the mountains. She wasn't ready to go back over to the rest of the group just yet and figured they could hide away a little while longer.
Claire laughed -- it sounded hollow to her ears, but it felt good to focus on something besides missing Matt, even if it wasn’t remotely realistic. “She dismantled the system before, she can do it again,” she agreed.
Slowly, Claire reached out and placed one of her hands on Karen’s. “I’m not glad we’re both stuck here right now, but …” She smiled, weakly, as she struggled to find the right words. “But if we don’t make it out of here, I’m really glad we had these last few months.”
Karen looked over and met Claire’s eyes, smiling a little. She reached over and placed her other hand on top of hers and squeezed lightly. “Me too.” No, neither were happy to be stuck there or to be in the situation that they were in, but she was at least glad to have had the chance in this crazy place - Atlantis, definitely not the arena - to have gotten to know Claire better. No matter what happened, and even if she were to be sent home today, they would still have that somewhere no matter what they remembered of their time here.
She gave Claire one more hand squeeze and turned back to look out over the mountains. It was only a small comfort considering the situation, but they at least had each other.
DAY 7
The days were starting to run together for Karen. The only real changes were the days they’d shift locations, but since that hadn’t happened in a few days, she wondered if they would be staying put this time. People continued to be killed, and Karen continued to bite back most of the emotion that was building up and threatening to spill out if she didn’t keep a check on herself. A release probably would have been good for her, but she didn’t want to risk not being able to make it stop.
She and Claire had stayed together for the most part with Claire tending to the injured and both women helping to gather supplies. Karen helped with injuries as she could, but there was only so much she could do. It was mid-morning or so when they were both over at the edge of the main camp helping to sort through some of the food that had been collected.
“I think we have enough fruit to last us for a little while,” Karen remarked. “But it doesn’t hurt to keep gathering as we’re able to.”
Claire looked up from her work at the sound of Karen’s voice. They’d fallen into a routine over the last few days, and Claire was genuinely grateful for Karen’s company, even if they weren’t saying much. There were too many emotions to sort through for Claire to feel wholly comfortable talking a lot, so she appreciated being able to fill her time with something productive alongside a familiar face.
She still wished neither of them were there, but she couldn’t fix that.
“Yeah, I think we should,” Claire agreed as she sat back on her heels. “Never know what’s going to happen next, and some of these guys,” she smirked a little, “probably maintain 8,000 calorie days normally.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Karen said with a small laugh. “Between the super soldiers and other supernaturals here, it’s a miracle we’ve managed to collect enough for all of us for one day.” For better or for worse, the landscapes of the arena always did seem to provide food here and there or at least enough to get by.
Bending over to grab her backpack, Karen sighed and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She felt tired and hot, and she knew she looked like a mess and was in dire need of a shower. “Maybe we should get started over on the wes--” Karen was strapping on her backpack when she suddenly heard a scream from someone in the group. Then a cry of pain.
“What’s…” Before she was able to get the question off her lips, there was a whooshing sound, and Karen yelped when she saw an arrow fly past her and hit the ground nearby. “Claire, look out!” She yelled and pushed the other woman out of the way only to feel a sharp and intense prick in her chest. She didn’t feel the severity of the arrow at first, but when she hit her knees and looked down to see the arrow sticking out of her chest, the pain intensified immediately and she fell backwards to the ground, struggling to take a breath.
It all happened so quickly -- one minute, there was a scream and the next minute Claire was in the dirt, before she even knew what was happening. Once Claire rolled over to look at what had happened, though, she understood. All it took was one look at Karen for Claire to know she was going to lose Karen, too.
She scrambled to her knees and over to where Karen was. “Karen,” she started, reaching out to put a hand around where the arrow landed. There was so much blood. Her eyes scanned her friend’s body, immediately assessing the location of the wound and trying to judge the depth. Had it punctured a lung? Maybe. Her heart? Claire had seen enough fatal injuries to know that sometimes, people were beyond saving. Not out of a desire to try, but because modern medicine could only go so far. And here, Claire didn’t even have a hospital at her disposal.
“I’m here,” Claire said finally. It was all she could offer. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
It didn’t take long for Karen to realize that this was going to be it for her. Her body started to feel cold from the inside out, and she looked over to see Claire next to her. It didn’t take long for her to see that Claire knew what Karen had already figured out. After everything, she was going to die in this arena from a shot to the heart. Some people might have thought Karen Page had a death wish based on the company she kept and the danger she managed to attract. She didn’t, though. Karen was a fighter, and she didn’t want to die.
Gripping Claire’s hand in her own, Karen briefly squeezed her eyes shut from the pain that radiated in her chest but had now started to fade. She opened up her mouth to speak, to tell her to keep fighting, but the words wouldn’t come. Her grip on her friend’s hand lessened and soon, Claire’s face started to dark as Karen’s vision faded. She took one last shaky breath and descended into the darkness.
The last thing Claire wanted was for Karen to feel any more pain. This wasn’t as instant as Matt’s death was; even if his body took a few moments to catch up to what had happened, his mind was out cold. It was a small mercy.
Unfortunately, Claire didn’t have anything to give. All she had was her hand to squeeze and a friendly face to look at Karen in her last moments. It would have to be enough.
She sat there alone for a few minutes before she remembered that the arrow had come out of nowhere and that whatever shot it might still be nearby. Claire didn’t want to leave -- she didn’t want to be alone -- but she knew she shouldn’t stay in one place for long. As she bent her head to kiss Karen’s forehead, a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She brushed her thumbs over Karen’s cheeks to wipe them away -- she was still warm, Claire noticed -- and then shakily pushed herself to her feet.