Written by Sara K.

A/N: Disclaimer- my knowledge over the military is very limited let alone what it's like to be a marine. I apologize in advance for an inaccuracies and I hope you're still able to enjoy it! (Y/N: Your Name, Y/F/N: Your Full Name, Y/L/N: Your Last Name)

WARNINGS: Language, drinking, violence and sexual assault triggers

You're terrified.

Terrified but excited.

The sun beats down on you as you step off the helicopter. The air is dry and the sandy dirt stretches on for miles; you couldn't pick another place to be. You brush your thumb over the wedding band on you finger as you follow the other group of fresh marines off the LZ. Your uniform makes you feel proud as you march the line with your head held high. You were the only one eligible to join the special tactics team and you were the only girl. If that didn't make you feel proud what else could? You walk down the line before you're quickly separated from the others. A man leads you down the rows of one story concrete buildings until he reaches the last one. He holds open the door and you give him a short nod before stepping inside.

The pride inside you dissipates.

All the uniformed men turn their eyes on you. Some with looks of annoyance and others with uncomfortable grins. You pull your left hand to your chest as your gaze follows each face. Your heart is skipping beats.

"You the new recruit?"

You look up to see the first friendly face of the room. He has dark military cut hair with a soft look in his eyes. The man extends his hand to you and you take it. Smiling back at him as he gives you a firm handshake.

"Y/F/N." You nod. "Came in today."

"Castle." The man nods back. "Frank Castle."

You ignore the sound of whispering behind him as he goes on.

"Where'd you ship from?"

"Queens."

"New York?" He smiles. "Yeah me too. Hell's Kitchen, not too far from there."

The men behind him start snickering.

"Ignore them," Frank shakes his head. "They're all assholes. Hard on everyone."

"We're hard alright." The blonde guy sitting a few feet away laughs.

Frank turns and flashes the guy a look. He shuts up and turns away.

Frank looks back to you. "I can show you around if you want,"

"That'd be great yeah." You nod before shifting you backpack higher on your shoulder.

Frank nods again before leading you through the middle of the others. You stay at his heels, avoiding eye contact with everyone else as you make your way out of the room. A wave of relief washes over as Frank shuts the door to the hallway.

"Sorry," He rubs the back of his head. "Jackson is probably the worst of all of us. I promise there's good guys here too." He pauses. "Well...we're all assholes, just a few of us are better than others."

You chuckle.

He leads you down the hall and begins showing you the different rooms.

"This is the dining hall." He points into a long room with wooden tables and plastic chairs. "The menu's pretty limited, but edible."

"The room you were just in was the rec room. Not much to do there except enjoy the shitty company." Frank shrugs and turns the corner.

"These are the sleeping quarters." He looks closely at each name placed by the room numbers; you follow him from door to door until he stops at room 12. "And I believe this is yours."

Frank opens the door to reveal a small room with a bed and desk inside. Yellow light illuminates the walls and a window by the bed lets sunlight trickle in.

"Not exactly 5 star I know," Frank puts his hands in his pockets and raises his shoulders. "But it's private."

You smile. "It's perfect."

You walk over and place your large bag on top on the stiff mattress. You began to quickly pull out the contents from the backpack and set them around the room.

Frank chuckles. "Never seen someone be excited about such a shit hole."

"It's not that," You shake your head; trying to keep the smile under control. "My dad was a marine. A really good one. I promised myself I'd serve and I'm actually doing it and it's just..." You sigh. "Sorry."

"No no," Your gaze turns up to Frank who's smiling back at you. "I get it. My dad served too so- yeah definitely."

You flash him a grin before pulling out the small picture frame you brought.

"You married?"

Looking back at him, you smirk. "Why? You getting any ideas?"

He laughs. "Nah just see the ring." He points at your hand before holding up his own. "I'm tied down too, don't worry."

You giggle before flipping the picture towards him. "Sam. Got married 17 weeks before I shipped out here."

Frank steps closer and looks down at the picture. It's your favorite picture of the two of you. You have your arms wrapped around Sam's back while you're placing a typical kiss on the cheek.

"Cute." Frank grins.

You brush a strand of hair out of your face before placing it on the right end of the desk. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"You're significant." You point at his left hand.

His face glows a little red as he runs a hand through his hair. "Oh yeah yeah; her name's Maria."

"Got any pictures?"

You can see the excitement light up in his face. "Yeah in my room."

You both stand in silence for a moment before you lean forwards. "Can I see them?"

"Course! Yeah sure!" He shakes his head and walks out of the doorway.

Giggling, you follow him out.

"You didn't tell me we were neighbors."

"I'll make sure to bring over some welcome cookies." He grins before opening the door next to yours.

You step inside to see the room is the same setup as yours; the difference is how lived in it is. A cameo bag hangs from the bedpost and papers scatter the desk. The bed is made neatly and a stack of folded clothes sits at the end of it. The wall in front of the desk is covered in pictures; each one layered with another.

Frank stands by the desk and points at one of the pictures. "That's us."

You move next to him and cross your arms. The picture is almost exactly the same as yours. She's kissing him on the cheek with her hands wrapped around his neck and he's smiling so wide that his eyes are squinted shut. It's adorable.

"Awww,"

His face gets a little red as he mutters out a "thanks"

You look over the other pictures. There's more of him and her and a few of just her. Your eyes land on a picture of two children. A boy and a girl.

"Who are these?!"

"Lisa and Frank Jr." He smiles proudly. "My kids."

"They're so cute!" You look closer at the other pictures. Birthdays, christmases, school pictures, dinners, Halloween costumes, church, fairs, picnics; you stop on a picture of him and his kids. A younger Frank Jr is banging a small plastic drum while Frank is playing a guitar. Lisa and him seem to be singing at the top of their lungs with their heads back and their eyes closed.

You point at the guitar. "You play?"

"Uh yeah a bit." He nods.

"Ever play here?" You ask.

Frank scoffs. "You find me a spare guitar lying around and I will."

Chucking, you turn back to the pictures.

"The captain of our team will be here tomorrow." Frank folds his arms over his chest. "You got shipped in just in time for your first mission."

You whip around. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah...didn't they brief you?"

Fear wells up inside your chest. Tomorrow? You'd just finish training and you were already going in the field? You can't do this. Not this soon.

"Obviously they didn't." Frank catches your panicked gaze. "Don't worry Y/L/N, nothin' too crazy alright? It's just a scouting mission."

Sighing, you nod back at him.

Frank puts a hand on your shoulder. "Promise you'll live through a boring ride through the desert. All it takes is a pair of eyes and legs to walk with and you got both."

You flash him a comforted smile. He nods back at you before pulling his hand away.

Letting out a long breath, you began stepping towards the door. "I should probably finish unpacking."

"Yeah yeah I'll leave you alone to that." Frank walks you out. You stop outside the room and turn to him. "And if you ever need anything I'm right here." Frank knocks on his door.

"Thanks." You smile before heading towards your room.

"Oh- and bathrooms are at the end of the hall!"

"Thanks Castle!" You laugh before going back to your room.

(1 out of 7)

Chapter 2 Fortunate Son: 10/02/17

The soldier shakes his head. "Men are children."

You smirk. "No. Boys. Boys are children."

Frank laughs. He then turns to the man standing beside him. "Y/F/N this is Marc Spector. Marc Spector, Y/F/N."

"Pleased to meet you ma'am." Marc shakes your hand.

You grin. "You too."