Ten Minutes Ago
Frank, Matt, Karen, and Alice arrived at the back of the prison, parking the Battle Van near armored transport trucks.
"Anyone need a refresher?" Frank asked, looking at his friends while he put in an earpiece. When no one gave an answer, he took that everything being crystal clear. "Right, let's move out." Alice and Karen nodded, and everyone exited the vehicle, taking their assumed positions.
Frank and Matt began walking towards the entrance, seeing only two guards in there way. One of the officers, Frank noted, was Roy Olsky, a man who worked for Fisk, and the one to bring him to Ryker's when he was arrested.
"Visiting hours are over." Roy told the two men, but then squinted, seeing one of the men was dressed as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, while the other was the Punisher himself. "Holy shit. Castle?" Frank didn't respond, and instead, he blew the man's head apart with his shotgun, painting the door crimson with his blood.
"Shit!" the other guard yelled. Before he could alert the rest of the prison via the walkie talkie, a shot echoed through the night, and the other cop fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his head. Frank looked back, seeing that Karen and Alice had climbed one of the guard towers, and Page used a sniper rifle to take out the other man. Frank nodded once, before he began searching the dead men.
"What are you doing?" Matt asked.
"Looking for their keys, dumbass." Frank muttered, eventually finding a keyring. "Got it, let's go." Frank and Matt entered the prison, careful not to set off the alarm, and made their way down the halls and corridors, ignoring the jeers and insults flung at them by the inmates.
"Oh shit, the Punisher's back!"
"Hey Devil! Fisk is gonna hurt you bad!"
"Yo, Castle! You're gonna die tonight!"
"Hey guys, you got two guards turning the corner." David Lieberman's voice could be heard, cutting through Frank's thoughts.
"I hear them, and they're coming fast." Matt agreed. Moments later, the guards could be seen right down the hall, and Frank quickly kneed one guard in the face, then immobilized him by snapping his left arm and slamming his head into a cell's bars. Meanwhile, Daredevil somersaulted towards the other officer, performing his signature flip kick and knocking the man out instantly.
"I still don't get why you won't just let me put these assholes in the ground." Frank grumbled.
"Because if we kill a guard, the entire prison will be on high alert." Daredevil reminded him. As soon as he said that, a noise that sounded similar to a siren went off in the entire cell block.
"That's some shitty luck." Frank muttered. "But what can I expect, having the devil on my shoulder…" Matt frowned, but didn't say a word, and they quickly ran down the halls, eventually finding solitary confinement due to Frank knowing the place from memory.
"Guys, the alarms are going off-" Karen was about to say, but was cut off.
"We know." Frank snapped. "What the Hell happened?"
"They must have seen the guards you killed before going in." Alice guessed. "We'll try to cover you, but hurry!"
"You don't have to tell us twice." Frank replied, finding the right key to open the steel door. Without hesitation, Castle ripped the door open, finding Andy laying on the stone bench he once sat on, with his eyes snapping in their direction.
"Andy!"
Andy slowly got up, stumbling while he did it, as his vision became clearer. Standing before him were Frank and Matt, apparently there to rescue him. Even though he didn't acknowledge it, Andy clearly saw that Murdock had a new black suit.
"Get up, Barclay." Frank ordered, striding over and freeing Andy of the chains and handcuffs. "We gotta get out of here."
"Leave me." Andy whimpered. "It's over."
"What do you mean?" Frank asked. "It's not over yet, Barclay. Fisk has-"
"No, I mean, it's over for me." Andy repeated. "I don't- I don't want to do this anymore."
"We don't have time for this." Daredevil stated the obvious. "I can hear a lot more guards coming our way. If we stay here, we'll be outnumbered."
"Let's go, Andy, come on." Punisher decided, putting his friend's arm over his shoulder. "I'll drag you out if I have to." Frank and Andy began walking out of the cell, where Matt joined in, taking Barclay's other arm.
"His heartbeat and pulse sound normal." Daredevil informed, as they were leaving.
"Leave me." Andy pleaded. "I'll just slow you down."
"Andy, you have to leave." Matt insisted. "Fisk kidnapped Nica while you were in here."
"I can't." Andy repeated. "I'm not the man she, or any of you thought I was. She'd be horrified if she realized who I really am."
"You're coming with us, or we all die." Frank finalized. "Besides, Alice is waiting for us."
"What? She's here?" Andy groaned.
"Yeah, she insisted." Frank mumbled, before speaking into his earpiece. "Karen, Alice, get ready to head out. We got Andy, and we're leaving soon!"
"Roger, Frank." Alice said jokingly. "How is Andy? Is he alright?"
"He looks fine." Frank told her. "Get ready to leave in five." Andy, Frank, and Matt continued to walk through the corridors, having to shoot or immobilize officers along the way, before they finally found themselves outside of Ryker's, where Alice and Karen were waiting for them next to the Battle Van.
"Come on, let's go!" Alice shouted, shooting at officers who were catching up to the trio.
"Dammit, Barclay, pick up the pace." Frank growled, nearly having to throw Andy in the back of the van.
"Are you sure he's alright?" Alice asked, as the rest of the group got into the van.
"Physically, he's fine." Matt replied. "I don't know about mentally though…" as the van's engine roared to life, Frank drove away from the prison, while Alice looked helplessly at her uncle, wondering what he just went through.
Safe House
Twenty minutes later, the Andy Barclay rescue team arrived at Homeland's safe house, where everyone was expecting them. Instead of staying in the main room, however, the group ventured into one of the private bedrooms, with Jessica, Luke, and Danny following them, before the door was slammed shut.
"Jesus, what happened?" Jessica asked, putting down the bottle.
"The plan went sideways." Frank grunted, setting Andy down on the bed. "Whatever the Hell is going on in his head, it's gotten worse."
"Uncle Andy, please." Alice whispered, kneeling down and looking Andy in the eyes. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing happened." Andy quickly defended, then attempted to change the subject. "Why were you at Ryker's? You could've been hurt."
"Oh no, don't you dare turn this on me." Alice snapped, pointing her finger in Andy's face. "And I was with you when we stopped Chucky, remember?"
"Harrogate wasn't filled with serial murderers and rapists." Andy pointed out. "If you died, Nica and I would be devastated. Besides, I don't want you to become like me."
"You said you didn't want to do this anymore." Frank brought the conversation back to what Barclay told him in the prison. "What did you mean by that?"
"I meant that I'm done." Andy mumbled. "I'm done pretending to be a hero. Everyone around me, fuck, it might as well be everyone in this room, suffers or dies, because they've been into contact with me."
"I refuse to believe that." Danny told him. "You still have friends and family."
"And that happens to us all the time, man." Luke added. "You don't get a pity party for this. We lose friends on a daily basis because of what we do."
"It goes deeper than that." Andy continued. "It's far worse, because I've murdered dozens of others in the name of saving the ones I love."
"Good God." Jessica snorted. "What was put in your head that you're a murderer? I've killed three people by now, I doubt that makes me a serial killer!"
"Andy, whatever is going on with you, that convinced you that everything bad that happens to people is your fault, it's bullshit!" Alice shouted.
"Well, tell that to my mother." Andy replied calmly. "Tell it to Aunt Maggie, or Kyle, Tyler, or De Silva. Do I need to go on?"
"I've seen cases of PTSD, but never like this…" Matt murmured.
"This isn't Post Traumatic Stress." Andy assured Daredevil. "This is a truth that I had kept from myself for twenty seven years."
"Twenty seven years…" Alice thought, mentally remembering what year that would have been. 1990. "You mean the 90s? The time you told me you were stuck in a doll? Andy, what the Hell did Chucky do to you then, because it's clearly fucked your head in a way I didn't think was possible!"
"It wasn't Chucky." Andy reminded his niece. "It was that thing that spoke in my voice. It showed me my true self."
"I don't believe that for a second." Frank said bluntly. "Not that you're a serial killer, or bat shit insane, or whatever crap has been shoved into your head, because I know the kind of man you are, Barclay. You showed me back in Kandahar the man you were, and you became even better over time."
"What do you guys want me to do?" Andy asked. "Even if you don't believe it, I still do. And there's nothing you can say that could make me think different."
"What about Frank?" Karen asked. "He kills criminals on a daily basis. He doesn't see himself as crazy, or a serial killer."
"That's because I regret nothing." Punisher responded. "Every criminal, every piece of shit that I've put in the ground, they deserved to die."
"You don't get to walk away from this, Andy." Alice told her uncle. Everyone else in the room stayed silent, hoping the girl could get through to him. "Especially since Aunty Nica was kidnapped."
"I can't do this, Alice." Andy begged. "I can't let her see the monster I really am. That's why I don't want you to become me."
"What're you talking about?" Alice asked. "That you don't trust me? That I'm just a kid? Newsflash, I had my soul in a doll too."
"That just goes back to not wanting you to be like me." Andy protested. "And it goes much further than that: I'm sorry, but I'm not the man you think I am. The truth is, I'm no hero. My entire mission, my 'crusade', to destroy Chucky once and for all, it was all based on a lie."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alice asked, on the brink of tears.
"When I was locked up, I realized my true self." Andy continued. "I don't kill assholes to save you or Nica, or to help my friends. I did it because a part of me- a bigger part than I realized- secretly enjoyed it. I killed because I liked it. I'm not angry at you for helping in breaking me out. I'm proud of you. But I don't trust myself into not becoming a monster."
"Andy, you're not a monster." Alice insisted, beginning to cry. "If you were, Aunty Nica would've never fallen in love with you. Hell, you proved that you're not a monster when Chucky gave you a fresh start as a doll, but you refused it."
"Charles Lee Ray didn't make me a killer." Andy pointed out.
"No, spending ten years fighting off a living nightmare did that." Alice retorted. "Spending the next twenty living in fear and loneliness cemented it. You spent thirty years of your life dealing with horrors that most people can't even dream of, let alone realize they exist. The fact that never turned you into a monster proves exactly the kind of man Aunty Nica married. Look, Andy, I can't pretend to know what you've been through, but I think it's more than fair to say that after Aunty Nica was sent to Harrogate, I got a taste of it. Even if it was the tiniest, it was still a taste. But at this point, it doesn't matter. The people that you- that we- care about, they're not suffering. Nica's life, and my life, are better because of you. Because you decided to end a monster." Andy looked sadly towards his niece, as a single tear rolled down his face.
"Deep down, I know you're right." Andy sighed. "You're smarter than I ever would have believed a kid your age would be. But every time I take a step forward, it feels like the past forces me to take three more back."
"Have you ever thought it's because you're allowing it?" Alice asked rhetorically. "You've been hung up on Chucky for months. He's dead, and he's not coming back. It's time to bury the past. And I get it, if you still want to be done with all these heroics, to just walk away from it, you can, but please. Do this one last time, for me. To save Aunty Nica." Andy smiled, getting up and hugging his niece, before turning to the rest of the group.
"So you done feeling sorry for yourself?" Luke asked.
"For now." Andy nodded. "I'm ready for one last time." Frank grinned, as he, Andy, and the rest of the Defenders suited up. Moments later, the eight of them stepped out of the bedroom, and began to address everyone else.
"Karen, stay with Alice." Frank requested, surprised that she didn't try to go along. "Natchios, with us."
"Gladly." Elektra smirked. "I'd love to kill the man who hurt Matthew."
"The van's all ready, Frank." David announced.
"And Wilson Fisk has Nica at his penthouse." Madani added. "Expect him and his 'Cabal' to be there with him."
"Thanks, Lieberman. Madani." Frank grinned, and everyone began to leave. Right before Andy walked out the door, he turned around, going on one knee and hugging Alice.
"I'll be back." Andy whispered. "I promise."
"Bring Nica home." Alice whispered back. Barclay soon broke the hug off, and joined Frank in the van, sitting with Elektra, Cage, Jessica, and Danny in the back. Frank started the engine, and the vehicle roared to life, tearing through the streets of New York to make it back to Hell's Kitchen.
Wilson Fisk's Penthouse
Nica sat patiently in her chair, hoping for an opportune moment to break free. Unfortunately, the traitorous Agent Dourif stood behind her, watching her like a hawk.
"Okay. Thank you. Excellent work, Mister Finney." Fisk complimented, before shutting off his phone and turning to the rest of the Cabal.
"Who was that?" Bushwacker asked.
"My contact at Ryker's Island." Kingpin explained. "He just let me know that Andy Barclay has escaped, and the ones who broke him out were the Punisher and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen." At the mention of Andy, Nica began chuckling to herself.
"Something funny, bitch?" Bushwacker asked, smacking her in the face with his gun arm.
"Yeah." Nica smirked. "My husband escaped prison. Now there's nothing stopping him from coming after you."
"That was always the plan." Fisk smiled sinisterly, giving Nica shivers. "I knew that he would eventually break out. He would most likely regroup in the safe house provided by Homeland Security, in which I can just set off the bomb I had planted under the kitchen sink. Or, your husband will go looking for me, until I decide to kill him with my own bare hands. Either way, I've won."
"Not yet." Jigsaw warned, entering the room with a tiny black object. "I just found this under your blank white painting. What was it called again?"
"Rabbit in a Snowstorm." Vanessa answered, staring at the tiny circle with wires. "Is that what I think it is?"
"We've been bugged!" Fisk realized. "Give me the detonator, now!" Hastily, Vanessa gave him what he asked for.
"Not that one, the other one!" Wilson yelled, his face beginning to turn purple in rage. Quickly, Billy tossed him the detonator for the single bomb at Homeland, and without hesitation, Fisk pounded the button. All anyone heard was a faint click, and looking outside the window, no explosion rang off.
"I don't understand." Davos spoke up. "What happened?"
Safe House
"Good idea in having your inside man bug the place." David commented, wiping his hands of the grime from the kitchen sink, and pulling the now defused bomb out for Madani to see. "You know, this is actually the second time I've gotten my hands dirty."
Wilson Fisk's Penthouse
"Dammit!" Fisk yelled, throwing the detonator and causing it to shatter.
"How could they have known?" Diamondback asked.
"Maybe they had an inside man." Walker suggested. "It's a tactic the cops use all the time."
"But who would have the balls to betray-" Russo turned his head in Agent Dourif's direction. "You."
"Me?" Dourif squeaked, terrified at the Cabal turning on him.
"What are you, a triple agent?" Russo asked. "You're the only one who's been to both here and the safe house. Well, aside from our guest."
"No, never. You have to believe me." Dourif tried to explain, backing up in horror.
"Bullseye." Fisk simply ordered, and Lester grinned.
"Anything that gets me paid." Bullseye chuckled, and he threw a straightened paper clip at Dourif, hitting him between the eyes and embedding itself in his skull.
"So what now?" Nica taunted, causing everyone to stare at her. "We can all assume they're on their way now. How much more time do you think you have?"
"Long enough." Fisk replied. "We still have you, Miss Barclay. And it's time the Devil pays for everything he took from me."