"We have reports that have been coming in all day about Jonas Compton. His wife and daughter have been informed about his death and it seems that the investigation has become slightly more complicated than the police had originally thought. Comptons body was found early this morning in a building that had recently been purchased by someone that does not exist. A tenant had forgot something after they had been told to evacuate by a gas leak and Compton paid for all of them to stay in a hotel. We know that no gas leak had ever been reported and police still don't know who the mysterious woman was that asked everyone to leave.

After a full autopsy, there wasn't an explainable reason as to how Compton died. All the report said was that he rotted from the inside out. Just hours after the investigation started, police received a box mailed to them containing photographs and video tapes exposing just what Compton was doing inside the building; weapons trading, illegal drug usage and sex trafficking. Which raises the question, do we have another vigilante on our hands?"

Jade honestly wouldn't consider herself a vigilante. She felt like that word was too close to hero and heroes didn't really take payment for completing a job. Not that she would consider herself a 'gun for hire' either. She tried not to worry too much about labels. The icepack on her ankle had definitely helped bring the swelling down and thankfully it didn't hurt as much anymore when she rolled it around, but she would have to be conscious of it when she returned to the pawnshop. For the last couple hours she had been hiding in stores, never staying in one too long before she went on her way. Now she was sitting on a very creaky chair in a laundromat where the owner had kindly given her an ice pack.

"You should go to the police," Mrs. Rivera told her from her spot behind a makeshift desk.

Jade tore her attention away from the TV and smiled at the woman. She had been nothing but nice since the moment Jade had walked in, but she could see the concern in the woman's eyes, "I rather not. I can handle myself."

"I'm just saying that it's not something you have to handle on your own," Mrs. Rivera shrugged and pretended to go back to reading her book.

Jade leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She had made up some story about getting into a fight with her boyfriend and running away from him. In the process she had tripped and twisted her ankle. Mrs. Rivera bought the story in the fact that she believed Jade really had run away, but she kept looking her over as if looking for some kind of proof that the fight had gotten physical. It wouldn't be long before she'd have to get up and moving again. Hopefully the man couldn't pick up on her trail, especially since she hadn't gone back to her apartment since the encounter earlier in the day. But now the sun was starting to set and her stomach was growling. She hadn't eaten anything else except her sad bowl of cereal and she could go for just about anything right now.

The only problem was that her cash had been inside the bag and her credit cards were all back at the apartment. She only had two options; either go hungry and make her way to the pawn shop, or risk encountering the stalker at her apartment. Neither sounded like good idea, but she had lasted longer without food before. Jade would hopefully be in and out of the pawn shop after taking a quick peak, just to get the layout. Hopefully she could 'borrow' some cash from Paul that would pay for a motel room for the night until she figured something out.

Jade must have fallen asleep at some point because suddenly Mrs. Rivera's hand was on her shoulder, shaking her awake.

"Come on mija, if I let you sleep here then everybody is gonna want to sleep here," the woman said.

Jade blinked warily and groaned as she straightened in her chair. There was no reason why these lights had to be this bright. Quickly looking outside, she saw that the sun had long since set and it was nothing but dark streets, "what time is it?"

"Time for me to be closing. Its ten."

Mrs. Rivera went about turning off the lights and grabbing her purse from the back room. Jade stood up and heard more than felt when her back crack. Oh god, I'm getting old, she thought as she followed Mrs. Rivera out the door. She waited until the woman locked the door behind her before saying goodbye.

While walking down the street, Jade stretched her arms out and high knowing that she probably was drawing some weird looks from the crowd, but every pop and crack her body made was worth it. She wasn't really dressed for the occasion of breaking and entering, but what the hell? She'd certainly done stranger things. Jade tugged her jacket tight around herself hoping that would somehow keep the wind from biting through. It didn't really work. She kept her head down as she traversed the streets. It was a friday night and there were more people out than last night. It certainly made it easier for her to blend in.

Jade was counting her fortunes that the pawn shop was a good distance away from the building where Compton had been found. The last thing she wanted was for a tenant to recognize her. While they still could, it was less likely this far away and she counted on the night and for them to second guess themselves on the off chance that she did cross paths with one of them.

The front of the pawn shop was closed up with a metal door that came down to the ground, not letting anyone out on the streets be able to look in. Jade would be able to rummage around without having to worry about someone spying her. She kept walking around the side of the building and to the back where she found a fire escape that led up to the roof. Hopefully there was a door or even a vent that she would be able to crawl in through. Once she grabbed on to the freezing metal ladder, she realized just how ill prepared she really was. The guy from earlier really had spooked her and she felt like she was doing everything wrong. Normally she would never second guess herself like this.

An easy breaking and entering never had her worrying so much. In the past, Jade had been in and out of places so quickly that no one could ever guess how she had done it. As she stepped onto the roof and nearly slipped on some pebbles, it felt like her heart had almost jumped up her throat. She bent over and grasped her chest, coming to the conclusion that New York might want her to leave. She hadn't had this much trouble even when she had been in San Francisco a year ago and back then she had a human eating alien to worry about.

The thought of the Punisher or Daredevil shouldn't have scared her this much. Hell, even with the Avengers close by should have had her more worried. It had to have been the news coverage. Everyone made those two sound like they had literally crawled out of hell with no problem. Straightening, Jade tried to push the thoughts of monstrous men out of her mind. She was a small time, all things considered. There were bigger, badder people on these streets that breaking into a sleazy pawnshop shouldn't be on anyone's radar.

God, she hated when she was wrong.

Jade swung down, swiping her leg out and catching the guy off guard. He fell hard on the ground with a grunt. She stood back up and was half way over the ledge and back on the fire escape when hands grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back against a hard chest. She screamed, throwing her elbow back into his ribs, but he only tightened his grip and she felt like she just shattered her bone. The muscle man. It could only be him. Jade thrashed and tried to reach in her jacket pocket to pull out her blade but his other hand clapped onto her wrist and dragged it behind her back. She screamed again hoping someone would hear and call the cops.

"Hey!" He raised his voice to be heard over her screaming, "I just wanna talk, okay."

Jade brought her foot down on top of his but the asshole barely even flinched, "you have a funny way of talking."

She was breathless from the struggle, his hold, and her racing heart ,because of course he would find her here. Every criminal came back to their mark at some point. Jade hadn't even bothered to wait a full 24 hours before returning. She could make him let her go if she wanted to, but she didn't want to risk hurting him because so far, he hadn't hurt her. In the next moment she did something that was either really stupid or only slightly stupid, she stopped struggling. Jade let her body relax and took a deep breath of the cold air. She didn't like to say that she had trust issues (she did, she just didn't like to say it) but given her line of work, she didn't think the best of people. So really, this guy should appreciate just how much this was killing her.

The second he let her go, she swung around to see that he had taken a few steps back and had his arms raised to try and show her he meant no harm. Yeah, right. The guy was freaking Goliath compared to her and looked intimidating no matter how hard he tried not to seem it. Jade eyed him warily, she hadn't been able to get a good look at him earlier but now that there was only a few feet between them her heart started racing before her mind could fully process why. It wasn't the bruised face or the closed cropped hair that gave him away. Not even the air around him that screamed soldier. In all honesty, he looked like a normal guy.

Until she saw the white skull peeking through his jacket.

"Oh god," she muttered and tried to take a step back, but she was at the very edge of the roof. Jade felt like she was going to throw up looking at that skull.

"Look, I aint gonna hurt you kid, I just wanna ask you some questions," he said, lowering his hands and sticking them inside the pockets of his jacket. He took a step back at the same time as if to give her a little more breathing room.

Jade could be half across the county and that still wouldnt be enough space. She narrowed her eyes at him because when in doubt, act tough right? "What about?"

"Compton."

"Who?" Jade was quick to ask, her brows pulling together in confusion as if she'd never heard the name before. She didn't want to admit just how dry her mouth was at the moment.

"Nah see that's not how we're gonna do this. I'm gonna ask you real easy questions and you're not gonna lie to me," he told her plainly.

Jade didn't think he was a man built on patience. The drop from the roof to the ground wasn't terrible. She had jumped off higher places and survived them just fine, but she didn't know if she was willing to do it on her ankle. There wouldn't be any point in jumping if she wouldn't be able to run away.

"I don't know who that is," she told him.

She didn't want to admit that she was purposely trying to push his buttons, but she wanted to know his limits. It seemed however that Frank Castle wasn't rising to take her bait.

"You were real slick in how you got everyone to empty out of the building. None of them could even remember your face really, but you messed up when you let the group of guys keep hanging out at the end of the street."

Jade didn't let the aggravation show on her face. Of course she hadn't paid them any mind. She didn't think anyone would bother going around asking the small time gangs if they had seen anything. That and she had been hoping they wouldn't talk because no one ever liked talking when the cops came around asking questions, but the man in front of her sure as hell was more intimidating than the police. At least with the police, you knew you had some chance of surviving, but she had never heard of anyone living if the Punisher came for them. Which begged the question, why was she still breathing?

"Yeah, okay I can see where I slacked a bit," she told him with a shrug, "but most of the time guys like that wouldn't talk for a price."

Again he didn't take her bait and she wondered if that confirmed the guys were dead. But she had also heard the rumors beyond what the news reported about Castle. Everyone he went after was for a reason and he didn't kill the innocent. Jade wondered just where she stood on his line of innocent or guilty.

"I really don't know what to tell you. Someone contacted me and told me Compton was shady and that I had to help the people in that building. So I got them out. Shit, I woke up this morning to the news and I freaked. I didn't know someone was trying to kill him," her voice came out wobbly and she didn't know if it was because she was trying to force it, or because her stomach was starting to cramp in demand of food.

"So you just happen to be trying to break in to a place Compton frequented?" he raised a dark brow at her.

Jade hesitated for too long. Something wasn't right. She could still feel the cool breeze blowing, but she was hot. Sweat was starting to form on her forehead and her throat kept getting dryer and dryer. The next moment she stumbled and would have fallen hard on the ground if Frank hadn't moved and caught her.

"It's not lethal," Frank reassured her, "I just need some answers."

Jade had never begun a panic attack when she was moments from passing out, but she could imagine that this was kind of how dying felt like.