Two Days Ago

"Oh my God." Sarah whispered, watching the news with Leo. It had been a quiet day, and after hearing about a recent bombing, they had watched the news to see if there were any updates. What they did find out was that a police car had taken a photo of who they thought as Pete, now known as Frank Castle, sliding off the hood and evading the cops. "I let him in our house."

"He's not bad mom." Leo insisted, breaking her own silence. "He only kills criminals." Sarah turned to her, the pieces starting to come together.

"Did you know?" Sarah asked. Leo shrugged.

"I had my suspicions since the day he helped with the sink." Leo revealed, folding her arms. "He confirmed it when we went to the shooting range."

"My God, I let a murderer near my children…" Sarah gasped.

"Mom, Frank is a good man!" Leo argued. "He cares about us, because he lost his own family!"

"What?" Sarah blinked, confused.

"I read in a paper that last year, Frank's entire family was killed at the park, and he was the only survivor!" Leo explained. "Can you honestly tell me that you have never thought of killing the ones who killed Dad?" That was the final straw for Sarah. Overwhelmed, Leo's mother collapsed on the couch.

"Look Mom, we've been around Frank long enough to know that he won't hurt us." Leo said. "He treats us like we're his own family, and he'd never let anyone harm us…"

Now

"This man is armed and extremely dangerous." The television blared. It had only been a few days since the attack on the hotel, and despite a report from Karen Page saying that Frank Castle saved her, the media was still quick to paint him as a monster. Leo and Zach simply stared at the TV, while Sarah walked in. "If you see him, do not approach him. Call law enforcement authorities at the number below, or dial 911. His name is Frank Castle…"

"Change the channel." Sarah finally asked.

"But it's on every channel." Zach pointed out. Deciding it was pointless to argue, Sarah just took the remote and shut the TV off.

"Mom, where do you think Frank is?" Leo asked.

"You're worried about him?" Zach accused. "Everything he told us was a lie. We're lucky he didn't kill us too."

"Hey, you two, let it go." Sarah snapped. "I'm not telling you again."

"You're the one who let him in." Zach turned on his mother. "Maybe you're not the expert on what we should do."

"Keeping our heads down, and our mouths shut. That's what we do." Sarah sighed. "If there's one thing your father left us, it's that lesson."

"Do you think Frank really is a bad guy, Mom?" Leo asked, knowing full well what he had done in the past. Sarah just looked at her. "Do you?"

"I don't know, sweetheart." Sarah muttered, looking at the floor while Zach ran to his room, grabbing his phone. "Come here." Sarah pulled Leo in close to comfort her.

A few hours later, the Liebermans found themselves in the kitchen, preparing lunch. While Leo was busy with her homework, Sarah and Zach were chopping vegetables, much to Zach's disdain.

"How much more?" Zach complained. "I'm going to get carpal tunnel." Just then, Leo's cell phone rang.

"Hold on Mom." Leo called, beginning to go upstairs. About a minute later, Leo heard her brother open the door for someone, but she was busy texting at the moment.

"How do you know Frank Castle?" A man asked, causing Leo to stop texting and begin going downstairs, stopping at the top.

"I don't." Sarah lied. Leo exhaled in relief, thankful she didn't give up their friend.

"Where's your daughter?" The officer asked. Sarah looked at Leo once, giving her the signal to hide, and Leo went back upstairs. "Is she home or not?" Leo tried listening in on the conversation, but only heard it muffled, as she tried listening through the floorboards of her bedroom. Suddenly, she heard a crash, and despite what her mother asked, Leo tiptoed downstairs, seeing Sarah and Leo captured by two people dressed as cops, with one having a gun to Sarah's head. With a small gasp, Leo went back upstairs, catching a small glimpse of the first officer. Leo waited for the cops to leave, before she grabbed her Ruger rifle, doing the best to hide it in a coat, and ran outside, believing it wasn't safe in her house anymore. Leo walked the streets for a half hour, finally sitting on a park bench, and got a phone call.

"Leo?" Frank's voice said out the other end.

"Frank?" Leo asked. "Thank God. They took Mom and Zach."

"Listen, I know, and I'm going to help you." Frank told her. "But you can't talk to anybody. Not the police, no one. You gotta promise me that."

"Alright. No one." Leo agreed.

"Now look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I'm the only hope that you and your family are alive." Frank continued.

"Frank, I do trust you." Leo revealed. "You've never done anything that would hurt us."

"It means a lot to hear you say that." Frank said truthfully. "Listen, when we're done talking, I need you to take the battery out and throw it as far as you can. You know what a sim card is, right?"

"Oh yeah." Leo replied.

"Good. You throw that in the other direction, alright?" Frank asked. "And you know where the pool is in that park? I want you to go there. Wait for me, I'll come get you. Do it now, okay?"

"Please hurry, Frank." Leo asked, looking around and hearing sirens. "I'm not sure when the cops will show up again." Frank ended the call, and Leo pulled the battery out, throwing it behind her and running towards the pool, picking up her Ruger. It only took ten minutes to get there, and it didn't take too long for Frank to show up either.

"You okay?" Frank asked, once he arrived at the pool. Leo ran over and hugged Castle, who didn't pry her off.

"Thank you for coming." Leo whispered. "I don't know what to do."

"I'm going to have to drop you off somewhere safe." Frank told her. "Those men who took your mom and brother, they're coming after me. You can't stay with me."

"But I want to help." Leo protested, grabbing her rifle.

"And I don't." Frank interrupted, as they entered his van and drove towards and old ruined building. "Look, I'll explain everything, but right now, you're not safe. Please, stay in the car." Frank finally stopped just outside, turning off the engine and lights, and entered the building, presumably waiting for whoever was after him. Eventually, Leo was getting bored of waiting, and was about to get out when she saw three other cars pull up to the building, with over a dozen men with military grade weapons get out and enter. Leo hid in the car, until all the men went in, and then she grabbed her rifle and exited the vehicle. Looking around, she saw a nearby building, and after climbing the stairs, found a vantage point to see through one of the windows. After looking through her scope, Leo watched as Frank snapped one guy's neck, and moments later, hung another.

Leo noticed that all the rest of the soldiers were going towards the basement, and even though Frank told her not to, she began running towards the building he was in, hearing an explosion. Leo entered the building, finding herself on a catwalk, and still heard constant gunfire. Leo eventually found the stairs that led to the basement, and upon entering, was greeting by the sight of bodies littering the floor. In the distance, she could see Frank shooting people with a shotgun, with gory results. Just as she was about to think Frank was going to be okay, out of the corner of her eye, Leo noticed one of the men hiding from Castle, looking like he was about to shoot. With a dawn of realization, Leo saw that this was the same man who posed as a police officer to take away her mom and Zach. Knowing she had to help Castle, Leo brought up her rifle, aiming for at the man down her sights. Leo took a deep breath, just as Frank told her on the range, and exhaled, slowly, squeezing the trigger and hitting the man in the head, just as he was about to open fire on Castle. Frank looked back at her, only for a moment, giving her a look of thanks, before diving behind a crate, while more men began to converge on his location.

"RUSSO!" Frank yelled with fury, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Leo raised an eyebrow, having never heard of a man with that name. "YOU HEAR ME? I'M GONNA WATCH YOU DIE!" A moment later, Frank set off an explosion, killing numerous soldiers. It was by only luck that Leo wasn't harmed. Frank then pulled out a light machine gun, easily gunning down more men. Finally, Frank killed the last man standing with his knife, plunging it into the man's skull.

"RUSSO!" Frank yelled again. Leo made her way to Castle, who was picking off anyone who survived, while trying to find who this 'Russo' was. Leo looked up, seeing one of the soldiers was trying to crawl away. Leo walked over and knelt next to him.

"Where are my mom and brother?" Leo asked.

"I ain't tellin you shit." The man said, spitting out blood.

"I said, where?" Leo asked, again, this time harsher.

"You think I'm scared of you?" The soldier asked, laughing nervously.

"Maybe not." Frank agreed, walking over to Leo and the man, ripping off his mask. "But I'll bet you're scared of me." The man's eyes widened with fear. "Where's Russo?"

"I don't know man." The soldier said. Castle fired a shot to the side, scaring him. "Oh come on! I really don't know!"

"Then the woman… the kid." Frank tried again. "Where'd they take em?"

"I don't know man." The man groaned. "It was need to know. You know how it is. I don't know anything."

"Fair enough." Castle stated, before firing a round into his head, and turned to Leo. "I thought I told you to stay safe."

"You're welcome." Leo muttered, before looking at Frank, who was patting down the dead body. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if there's anything on him." Frank grunted, before pulling out a phone. After holding a finger to his lips, indicating her silence, he dialed a number, and they both heard another man speak.

"Frank?" The man said. Frank and Leo sat down, with the speaker phone turned on.

"You know the Billy Russo I knew…" Frank began. "He'd have the balls to come himself, you know?"

"Well, I got staff for that these days, Frank." Billy countered. "You know the saying about having a dog and barking yourself?"

"Someday, this'll come down to just you and me." Castle ignored the question. "Just know that, Bill."

"No it isn't." Billy replied nonchalantly. "You're a wanted man, Franky. They'll catch up to you, just like last time."

"Guess we're both running out of time, huh Bill?" Frank taunted.

"What's in the computers, Frank?" Russo's tone sounded serious this time.

"The woman and the kid, where are they?" Frank ignored the question.

"Oh, they're with me. Right here." Billy told him. "Safe and sound, unless I saw otherwise." Leo shuddered, hearing Zach crying in the background.

"He's got everything, Bill." Frank revealed. Before Leo could ask who, he added, "Lieberman, he's got everything on you. I'm gonna tell you right now, anything happens to that family, the whole world will see it Bill. And after that, you'll be done."

"And Zach and Sarah will be dead." Russo reminded him, making Leo flinch. "You want that family back? I want Lieberman, and I want you."

"Sounds about right." Frank muttered.

"I'll set up the exchange then." Russo decided. "If, that's alright with you."

"Yeah, you got my number, Bill." Frank whispered, before shutting off the phone. The past five minutes were a lot for Leo to take in, and she decided to start asking a couple questions.

"Is my dad alive?" Frank looked at her.

"He is." Frank replied. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have told you. But they would've killed your family, and then kill him if they found out."

"Who's Billy Russo?"

"He used to be my best friend back in the Marines. He's turned into a bit of an asshole lately."

"Are you really going to trade yourself and Dad for Mom and Zach?" Frank stared at her for a few lingering moments.

"I don't see any other way, Leo." Frank wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "I'm sorry."

"What do we do now?" Leo asked, picking up her Ruger.

"We gotta meet your dad." Frank said, getting up. "He went to see a mutual friend of ours for help." Frank and Leo left the compound and drove around New York, finding an area where some homeless people were hanging out. After walking around a bit, Leo saw her dad, David Lieberman.

"Dad!" Leo yelled, running over and hugging her father.

"Hey, Leo!" David said, hugging her back, while looking at Frank. "Thank you for keeping her safe."

"She saved me a bit back there." Frank pointed out, causing Leo to smile. "I'm proud of her."

"I see you had a bit of work." David noted, seeing the blood. "Russo?"

"Wasn't with them." Frank muttered bitterly. "The bastard didn't have the balls to come do it himself."

"That's a shame." Frank turned around, seeing a woman with brown hair walk up to them. "Then again, I'd like to see Russo face justice for killing my partner."

"So you did go to Madani." Frank grumbled, while David nodded. "Well, how about it, Madani? You gonna pull your gun on me again?"

"I'm a bit surprised you let me call her." David said, changing the subject.

"I am too." Madani agreed.

"Well, if he trusts you, then so do I." Frank decided. "Besides, we need your help. Wolf was part this, Rawlins is in the CIA, and Russo is working with them. We need someone in Homeland for an edge." Frank then walked over to Leo, patting her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you did good, kid." Frank said softly.

"Thanks, Frank." Leo replied, smiling at him.

"Let's go." Madani called out. "We need to get you to Homeland immediately." Nodding, Frank, Leo, and David got in the van, following Madani to the Homeland Security office, planning on stopping Rawlins and getting Leo's mom and brother back.