Frank was already having second thoughts about all of this, but true to Tony's word a fancy limo arrived not ten minutes after Stark had promised it would. What the hell, he figured as he packed his stuff in and set off on a drive through New York City.
They drove by Hell's Kitchen. Still a cesspool of scum and corruption, Frank just hoped that there was someone to watch the area while he was gone.
The limo pulled over right in front of Stark Tower. It had gone through a major revamp since the last time Frank had seen it up close. As he took out his bags and tipped the driver, Tony Stark and a redhead woman came towards him from the door. "Ah yes, Ms. Potts, I'd like you to meet Frank Castle. Newest head of security for Stark Tower."
"Pleased to meet you." Pepper and Frank shook hands. "Though I'm not sure Ms. Hill will be overly excited for that."
"She'll work with it. I'm sure the rest of the team will," said Stark. "Come on; let's take a tour of the new tower. People pay small fortunes for tours of the tower."
They started in the atrium. Large, compact and modern. "This actually didn't suffer too much during the battle for New York. The only real addition was elevators for…"
An elevator suddenly opened. A large, muscular man with long blonde hair rushed out and grabbed Tony in a bear hug.
"…this."
"Stark!" Thor was overjoyed to see Tony again. "Good to see you've arrived back in one piece." He broke the hug and looked at Frank Castle. They were roughly the same size. "Who's this?"
"Frank Castle, meet Thor. Straight out of Norse mythology, Thor, meet Frank Castle, newest addition to Stark security." said Tony Stark. "Thor's probably the strongest guy in one state."
"One state?"
"Well, Let's go to the science floors and show you. " The three of them got in the elevator and pressed floor 30. In fifteen seconds (Frank timed it with his watch) the door opened to a laboratory type room. It was decked out with various interactive touch screens, reverse-prototypes of Iron Man suits and what was labeled "Ultron" on one side, under construction. In the center was an interactive map of the tower and New York in general. Dr. Bruce Banner was monitoring it.
Bruce looked up to see the three who had just walked in. "So you're the new guy that Stark's been telling me about." He shook hands with Castle. "Dr. Bruce Banner. You must be the guy they call the Punisher. Your work against organized crime is… pragmatic, to say the least."
Frank just stared at him.
"Yeah he's not one for many words. Anyways, Frank, Banner here is the strongest person in the building, but only when angry. I recommend you not piss him off. It usually doesn't end well."
"Not true," said Banner. "I did save New York."
"Causing tons of collateral damage. You'd be facing lawsuits from half the city's other billionaires if they didn't respect me and my army of lawyers. Finish the reverse energy phasers for the Ultron arms, would you Bruce? I gotta get this guy settled in with Hill upstairs."
'Good luck with that." Banner returned to his work. Next up on the floor two stories above was the gym, a swimming pool, and the armor. The three found Captain America bench pressing well over 500 pounds in weights.
Tony waited until Steve finished his reps and put up the weights. "Hey Cap, I'd like you to meet Frank Castle. He's an expert in firearms and tracking, and he'll be helping us take out HYDRA bases. By the way, have I ever seen you outside this gym ever since I took you in?"
"I don't think so," said Cap. "I'm not the guy that needs a social life."
"Yeah, Romanoff told me all about that. Speaking of which, I'm taking Clint and Thor club-hopping tonight, and we'd love to have you join us."
"I got no plans tonight. I guess."
"Good." Tony patted Steve on the back. "See you then. Frank, this place looks fun, but you'll want to see the armory for yourself.' Thor went off to challenge Steve's records in weight lifting while Tony took Frank to the armory.
Frank was impressed. He maintained several armories worldwide but nothing on the scale that Stark had ready for him. Every rifle, explosive, handgun, and even a few vehicles lined up and ready for use. There was even a personal Iron Man suit in grey in the center. "At your disposal. You probably won't need the suit though. That's more of my style that yours." Another blank stare from Castle speaking hurry on with this. Very well then.
Finally they reached the top floor. Another lounge area, with a bar and several target practice areas. They were pincushioned with arrows. They found Hawkeye firing arrow after arrow. An attractive brunette was keeping score and timing.
"Hey guys," said Stark. "I'd like you to meet Frank Castle."
Both of them froze.
Unknown to Tony, Hawkeye and Maria Hill had been two of the people Nick Fury counted on the most in his missions to try capture and detain the Punisher. Failure after failure had incurred the wrath of Fury, and that was never something to be desired. And here Castle was. After years of searching, they found the Punisher because Tony Stark just happened to give him a front-row seat to the big show.
And Tony could tell there was tension. "Well, while you people are having a staring contest, I'm going to go down to the lab and go help Banner. Have fun," he remarked as the elevator.
Clint Barton broke the uneasy silence. "Aren't you a sight for these sore eyes."
"I could say the same thing about you," said Frank.
"I cannot believe Tony's just going to bring a man he knows is a cold blooded killer and ask him to join the Avengers," said Hill. "After everything SHIELD did to tag you-"
"Excuse me? When did Stark Industries become SHIELD 2.0?"
"Since when did law-breaking vigilantes get to join the Avengers on a moment's notice?" snarled Hawkeye.
"I don't know about that, but I've probably done more to preserve world peace than SHIELD with all its moles and turncoats."
The reference to HYDRA stung Clint hard. "You know, you might be a tough guy, but you better stop acting like you're better than us because you're a murderer."
"Yeah, well I could say the same thing about you. Just ask Loki, he-"
Clint swung at Frank, but Frank easily blocked out and began his usual style of fist-fighting. He was prepared to knock the living daylights out of Hawkeye when Hill stepped in.
"Enough, both of you! Clint, I know Castle's not the guy we want joining the team, but this is Stark's call and we work for him. And Frank, Tony might have a soft spot for you, but we don't so get used to it. This isn't what Fury would have wanted, Clint."
Both men recovered. Hawkeye stormed off. "I actually preferred it when Fury was around giving orders. Now stop staring at me, You guys going to watch me take a piss too or what?" With that he left to go to the restroom, slamming doors as he did.
"Sorry about that," said Hill. "Clint's been taking the fall of SHIELD and Nick Fury's death pretty hard. But this does not mean I was taking your side either."
"Like I didn't see that coming." Frank had to admit, she was pretty attractive. "An Nick Fury's not dead, is he?"
Hill looked confused. "He died during HYDRA's takeover-"
"Nope. You're giving a bunch of subtle sights of lying. Don't do that anymore. I can tell very quickly when someone's lying. Anyone else know about this?"
Maria gulped. "Just Rogers. No one else, not even Clint or Tony. You have to promise me you'll keep it this way."
"Of course. Trust me, I have much more pressing secrets than knowing whether a master spy is dead or not." Frank looked out the windows to his left, taking in the New York skyline. "Tell me, how do two of the top agents SHIELD had in its arsenal turn to an anti-government person like Stark?"
"When Romanoff leaked everything to the public," Hill began, refering to the SHIELD file dump Frank was well aware of, "I knew I would be on someone's shit list, so I turned to the one person I knew with enough money to keep them away. Clint was more difficult. Tony had JARVIS track down his whereabouts to a safe house in Canada, similar to you, and talked him into coming here. He still works for me; I'm head of security at Stark Tower now."
"Not exactly anymore,' said Frank. "You work for me now. Stark made me the new boss. Go and find him if you doubt it." It just so happened that Clint walked back from taking a leak, along with Tony, Thor, and Steve. "Well, the gang's all here-"
He noted Maria giving him a hard stare and then pointing at the Punisher. "Did you seriously just give that guy my job?!"
"What?" It took a few seconds for Stark to remember the deal he made with Frank. "Well, yes. I need this guy, Hill. He's one of the best at tracking people."
Hill rolled her eyes while Castle smirked. Hawkeye still looked angry. I'll have to have a talk with him, thought Tony.
"Alright, so here's the plan," said Tony. "I want to begin going after HYDRA tomorrow. But today, well that's still free. I've got Steve, Thor, and Clint going club hopping with me tonight. Hill, Frank, either of y'all want to take the night off and have some company with us?"
Frank grunted, while Maria replied "Sure boss, why not."
"Actually," Stark said, pointing at Steve, "he'll be the boss starting tomorrow. Of course I still pay for and design everything. Get suited everyone. We leave after dinner."
Several hours later, New York night club
Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Maria Hill, and Frank Castle walked up in the VIP line for the club. This one was new and extremely expensive, and in other circumstances Frank would have gotten in by sheer force. But for now, Stark's money and influence bought them tickets inside for the night. For now.
As they entered, a man hesitated to pull out his phone. His contact answered his call from a pay phone five blocks away. "Yes?"
"Castle is here. Along with the all Avengers save Banner. Request permission to unleash the Wild Hounds."
"Wild Hounds is a go." The other man hung up, then dialed the number to reach Baron Von Strucker. He could call safely; in less than half an hour the Avengers - plus the Punisher, quite a nice bonus - would be dead.