"I'm just saying," said Frank impatiently, "It's not exactly a movie I love rewatching."

"Fine," said Micro, tossing the remote into Frank's lap, "You pick."

Frank considered for a moment, looking at the remote. Their television wasn't a traditional television, per say. It was a monitor hooked up to a computer Micro had rigged to interface with a remote like cable box. It allowed them to access their respective private libraries of movie files and watch them anytime.

"Bad Day at Black Rock," decided Frank, clicking the remote.

"Wait a minute," said Micro, "Why do I feel like you're going to pause this every five minutes to give me a lecture about all the deep meaning behind it?"

A loud high pitched beeping sounded throughout the bunker. Micro and Frank looked at one another in concern. They were sitting next to one another on the far end of the couch when they heard the noise.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" asked Frank.

"Maybe," said Micro quietly.

Frank had recently learned that a man named Billy Russo, a member of the military outfit that killed Frank's family, was still alive. He and Micro had begun searching for him. One of the steps Micro had taken to do so was to program a software to monitor specific frequency of radio waves. It was the frequency that Frank and Billy's military unit used. The beeping meant that the frequency was in use.

Micro and Frank got off the couch and rushed over to Micro's computer station. Micro tapped at a few keys and pulled up the frequency. He played back the audio it was picking up.

"Lee and West 130th Street," crackled a voice, "West Harlem."

"Understood," crackled another voice, "I'll be there shortly."

Frank immediately rushed over to his equipment locker.

"Frank, wait," warned Micro, "We don't know what this is. You can't just go in without-"

"He might be there, Spook," said Frank, putting on his tactical vest and preparing his handgun, "and he might not be there long. This could be my only chance. I'm going and that's final."

"...fine," conceded Micro, "Take your earpiece with you."

"Thanks," nodded Frank, knowing that meant Micro would back him up remotely.

Frank finished by throwing a black duster on over his outfit and heading out to get the tactical van. Micro sighed nervously. Frank always had tunnel vision when it came to Billy. He hoped Frank wouldn't do anything stupid.

Frank rounded a corner and scanned the room with his flashlight, his firearm at the ready. He kept it down at his side, knowing there was just as much of a chance of him running into a civilian as there was of him running into Billy.

The location mentioned over the frequency turned out to be a condemned building. It was in pretty bad shape, set to be demolished in the next month or so. The dark rooms were barely illuminated by the daylight outside, giving the whole place a muted, grey appearance. Dust kicked up with every one of Frank's steps.

Frank rounded a corner and immediately saw a tall, muscular figure. Frank immediately shined his light on the figure. The man winced and held up a hand to the light, but began an approach toward Frank. He didn't seem aggressive, so Frank kept his gun down.

"Frank Castle," said the man, now within arm's reach, "What's the Punisher doing here?"

"...Luke Cage," realized Frank, studying the man's face for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" asked Luke, taking a step closer.

"I could ask you the same- Hey!"

Luke had grabbed Frank's arm with one hand and pulled the gun out of it with his other. Frank scowled in frustration as he failed to fight against Luke's superhuman grip. There was nothing Frank could do against him.

"I'll ask you one more time," said Luke.

"Just tell him!" yelled Micro over the earpiece.

"Picked up some suspicious activity on an old radio frequency," growled Frank, "I thought a certain dangerous individual might be here. Now your turn. What are you doing here?"

Luke paused for a moment, eyeing Frank closely. After a moment he released Frank and handed him back his gun.

"Heroes for Hire got a call," said Luke, "Reports of suspicious activity around here."

"The only place I haven't searched is the basement," said Frank.

"Then I guess that's our next stop."

Frank and Luke moved slowly side by side as they approached a rotting wooden staircase and followed it down into the basement. It was far darker down there. Instead of an eerie grey look, this place seemed to put everything through a charcoal filter. Neither Frank nor Luke could make out a lot. Frank's flashlight managed to catch a silver box as he scanned the room with it though.

"There," said Luke, seeing it as well.

Frank and Luke both approached the box. Frank crouched beside it and looked it over. It didn't appear to have distinguishing markings. Frank clicked the latch and opened the box. A thin cloud of powder blasted out directly into Frank's face. He coughed and turned away, eyes and nose stinging from the substance. Then his eyes began to water. Then his heart began to race. What had he just inhaled?

"Frank?" asked Luke cautiously.

Frank opened his eyes. His vision was blurred. His heart was racing. His senses were on high alert. Frank looked up at the man speaking to him. Frank couldn't remember why he was here or who the person was. As Frank's vision slowly returned and his eyes cleared of water, he could clearly see the man's face.

"Billy!" roared Frank, pointing his gun at Luke, "Stand down!"

"Frank!" yelled Luke angrily, "What are you doing?!"

"Frank!" shouted Micro through the earpiece, "Did you just say 'Billy?' Is he there?"

"I said stand down!" bellowed Frank, approaching Luke.

"Cut this shit out, man!" said Luke irritably as Frank drew closer.

Luke took a step toward Frank. Frank saw this and opened fire. He emptied the entire clip into Luke. Each bullet bounced off of him, leaving bullet holes in his shirt. Frank's eyes widened with rage. He couldn't tell why that hadn't worked.

"Frank-" began Luke.

Frank let out another roar as he drew a combat knife from his boot and leapt at Luke. Luke grabbed Frank before he got too close, keeping him at a safe distance. Frank tried to plunge the knife into Luke's arm, but the bulletproof man's skin snapped the blade in half. Left with no other method of attack, Frank threw a punch into Luke's side, grimacing as his knuckles collided with the steel-like skin.

"Okay," sighed Luke with frustration, "Enough playing around."

Luke grabbed either of Frank's arms and pinned them to his side. Frank grunted in frustration and delivered a headbutt to Luke's chest in desperation, crying out in pain as pain rang through his head. Luke knelt down and shoved Frank to the ground, pinning him face first in the dirt. Frank growled in defiance and tried to break free to no avail.

"Frank!?" cried Micro over the earpiece, "What the hell is going on there? Answer me, Frank!"

Luke frowned as Frank continued to struggle to get free. Luke couldn't hold him down forever. He looked around the room. He saw piles of construction supplies, including a length of rope. That would work.

Luke picked Frank up from the ground and restrained him with a bear hug from behind. Furious, Frank pushed and kicked as hard as he could to break free. Luke carried him across the room to the supplies, where he pinned him down face first again and set about tying him up.

Luke was meticulous. He brought Frank's ankles and wrists all to a central location behind his back and set about hogtying them there. Frank fought back and wriggled the whole time, but Luke effortlessly held him down as he tied and tightened the knots.

"I'm going to kill you!" screamed Frank, "Do you hear me, Billy!? Nothing will stop me! Nothing! Gumph!"

Luke had taken another section of rope and pulled it through Frank's mouth, gagging him and pulling his head back as Luke tied the ends of the rope to his hogtie knot. Frank was now completely restrained: all four of his limbs were tightly bound behind his back and his head was being pulled toward the same point by a rope gag. The Punisher no longer posed a threat.

Luke plucked the earpiece from Frank's ear and brought it up to his own.

"Hello," he said casually, "This is Luke Cage."

"What happened to Frank!?" demanded Micro instantly.

"He's unharmed," said Luke, "and he no longer poses a threat to anybody."

"A threat?" asked Micro incredulously, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Meet me at my office if you want to talk about this more," said Luke.

He crumpled the earpiece and tossed it aside. Then he looked down at Frank, who was still fighting to try to break himself free. Luke sighed. He crouched down, picked Frank up, and threw him over his shoulder. Frank's eyes bulged as he bit down on the rope in frustration, wincing through the pain and feelings of impotence.

"Come on, Frank," said Luke, adjusting his grip on Frank as he walked to the building's exit.

"What do you think it is?" asked Colleen.

"Who knows?" shrugged Misty, "Whatever it is, must be pretty important though."

Colleen, Danny, Misty, and Claire had gathered in the conference room of Heroes for Hire, where they were waiting for Luke to get there. He said he wouldn't be able to get there until night and that there wasn't much else he could say over the phone. The elevator dinged. The four of them hurried up out of the conference room and to the elevator door as it opened.

"Holy shit…" muttered Claire.

"He's got…" whispered Danny, "...the Punisher…the entire Punisher…"

Luke, unamused, readjusted his grip on Frank over his shoulder. Frank began to fight back, squirming around in vain.

"ERMPH!" he cried, "ERMPH RMPH!"

Luke rolled his eyes and carried Frank to the conference room, where he threw Frank's body on top of the enormous table. Frank, still furious, glared at all of them as he lay there hogtied on the table. None of them were quite sure what they were looking at.

"Where's Jessica?" asked Luke.

"How is that the most important question right now?" demanded Claire, "Luke, why is the Punisher hogtied and lying on our conference table?"

"There's something wrong with him," said Luke.

"I'll say," scoffed Danny.

"I mean temporarily," said Luke, "I think he's been drugged or something. Claire, is there a way you could get a sample of his blood or something?"

Claire raised an eyebrow. Then she looked over at Frank, who was huffing through the rope in his mouth and sweating all over from his constant strain, still trying to fight his way free of the restraints. Claire looked back at Luke and raised both eyebrows.

"Right," sighed Luke.

Luke walked over and smacked Frank in the back of the head, knocking him out cold and leaving him motionless for the first time since he was drugged.

"I'll get my supplies," said Caire, heading for the elevator.

"Where's Jessica?" asked Luke again.

"We don't know," said Misty, "Why so interested in her right now?"

"She's dealt with the Punisher before," said Luke, "I thought she might be of help."

"Sorry," shrugged Misty.

"Let's get him into a chair," said Luke, nodding to the unconscious Frank.

They did just that, removing Frank's hogtie and rope gag and placing his limp body into a chair. Then they bound his ankles to the front legs and his elbows and wrists to the back of the chair. They taped down his mouth with several layers of duct tape. Then they moved him to their supplies room in the back.

"Danny, Colleen," said Luke, "Watch him. Make sure he stays tied up. If anyone asks, the official story is he stormed the office and we took him down. At least until we know more. Alright?"

Colleen and Danny nodded. Misty and Luke went back to Luke's office to discuss logistics and potential courses of action.

The elevator dinged a few minutes later. Jessica rushed out of the doors as they opened, looking around for any sign of Luke or the others. Micro and Karen got off with Jessica a moment later. Karen had heard about the situation from Micro. Jessica had heard from both Luke and Karen.

Not seeing anybody at first glance, Jessica rushed past the conference room to the back. That's where she came across Danny and Colleen standing guard outside the supplies room. Looking back and forth between the two, she sighed in frustration.

"Okay guys," she said slowly, "Where's Frank?"

Colleen and Danny looked at one another. They nodded. Colleen opened the door to reveal the bound, gagged, and unconscious Frank inside. Micro and Karen gasped.

"Holy shit!" cried Jessica, "You kidnapped the Punisher!?"

"Uh…" muttered Danny, "He broke in?"

"Jessica," said Luke, approaching the group with Misty.

"What the hell is going on here, Luke?" demanded Jessica.

"Your buddy here tried to kill me," explained Luke.

"No way!" protested Karen, "He would never-"

"I think he was drugged or something," clarified Luke.

"Drugged?" asked Jessica in confusion.

"I see…" realized Micro, "That's why he was shouting about Billy…"

"Mrnnpph…" moaned Frank.

"He's waking up," noted Danny.

Frank's head slowly rose as his eyes opened. Then he jolted wide awake, looking around to assess his situation. He looked to his bound limbs and then over at the group standing in front of him. He scowled and began shouting at them through the duct tape.

"Rnnph! Mmph! Mmph!"

"Oh, come on!" said Jessica impatiently, "Ungag him, would you?"

Misty promptly walked up to Frank and ripped the tape away. Frank let out a grunt of pain as the adhesive ripped away from his skin, shaking it off. Then he looked angrily up at everyone.

"What is going on!?" he demanded.

"You were drugged," said Micro, "How are you feeling?"

"Untie me!" yelled Frank.

"Not happening," said Luke, "Not until we know more about what made you do that."

"Do what!?"

"Try to kill me."

Frank froze. He didn't know what Luke was talking about, but the very idea terrified him. Had he lost control? Had he put someone in danger?

"He's clearly not drugged anymore," argued Karen.

"Not letting him go until we know for sure," said Luke.

"How will you know that?" asked Jessica.

"Move aside," said Claire impatiently as she pushed her way through the group, "Oh, great. He's awake."

"It's fine," said Frank calmly, "Do whatever you have to do."

Claire seemed concerned for a moment. She looked at Luke. Luke nodded. Claire pulled in her blood testing equipment, hooking it up to the outlets in the supplies room. She hooked the needle up into Frank's arm and began to draw the blood.

"Let's run the results by my usual contacts," said Misty, "Whatever this drug was, it wasn't normal. It was some next level shit."

Claire finished the procedure, removing the needle and unhooking the equipment. Frank looked sadly up at Micro and Karen. They nodded to him in comfort. Jessica looked over to Luke in concern. She hoped he knew what he was doing.

"I'm sorry," sighed Micro, "I've been monitoring it this whole time. Dead silence."

"Damnit!" cursed Frank, "What if we missed him!?"

"Come on, Frank," said Karen, "This was clearly a trap. Someone is trying to get to you."

"Well it's working!" shouted Frank angrily.

"You need to calm down!" ordered Karen, losing her patience.

"You don't know him," whispered Frank, "You don't know what he's capable of."

"Yes, we do, Frank," said Karen, "We just don't know it as personally as you."

"But we respect that," added Micro, "You're right to want to take this monster down. We're with you on that. We just want to make sure we're going about it in a smart way."

"Alright," said Misty, walking back over to the supplies room, "Guess it's your lucky day. A contact of mine in the CIA recognized the drug instantly."

"What is it?" asked Karen.

"Mithuelon," said Misty, "It's an extremely unstable bio weapon still in its development stages. I have no idea how anyone got a hold of a live one."

"So?" asked Micro, "Are there any additional side effects?"

"No," said Misty, "The drug is effectively meant to sabotage a unit by turning one of their members violent. Once the moment of intense fight response wears off, it lies dormant for a few hours."

"Dormant?"

"Then it resurges," explained Misty, "Just when the victim's allies have just started to suspect the victim was healthy again, the second fight response hits. Frank's got one more episode in him before the drug leaves his system."

"When?" asked Frank.

"In the next hour or so."

"Leave," said Frank, "All of you. Don't come back until it's out of my system."

"No," refused Micro, "I heard you the last time this stuff affected you, Frank. There's no way I'm letting you go through that alone."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt," said Frank.

"You're pretty thoroughly restrained," said Micro.

"I've gotten out of worse," said Frank, "and there's no telling what I'll be capable of when I think I'm seeing Billy again."

"Then we'll talk to you," offered Karen, "Keep you calm."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," said Frank.

"Let's at least try it," suggested Micro.

"You two do whatever you want," scoffed Misty, "Personally, I'm going to make sure to be on the other side of the bulletproof man when this goes down."

Misty walked off. Jessica returned a few minutes later.

"Misty told you guys?"

"Yup," said Karen.

"And let me guess," said Jessica, "You want to stay here with him while he relapses."

"How'd you guess?" asked Micro, half joking.

"Just…" began Jessica, "All of you be careful, okay? Just because Frank won't be able to get to you two doesn't mean he can't hurt you."

"We'll be fine," assured Karen.

"Okay," said Jessica, walking off.

Micro and Karen waited. Frank waited too. None of them were sure exactly when the drug would take effect again, so there was nothing to do but wait. After almost an hour of waiting Frank tensed up, sweating as his skin turned red.

"Is it happening?" asked Micro.

"Grrrnngh…" moaned Frank, gritting his teeth.

"Sure looks like it," said Karen, "Come on, let's get behind him."

Micro and Karen moved their chairs behind Frank as he finished succumbing to the Mithuelon. He looked up, furious, and glared at the door.

"Billy!" he screamed at the air, "BILLY!"

"Shh," assured Karen, "It's okay Frank, he's not here."

"I see him!" insisted Frank, "Let me go! Someone untie me! Someone- No…"

"Is he hearing things too?" asked Micro quietly.

"No!" cried Frank, "No, it wasn't their fault!"

"It's okay, Frank," continued Karen, "It's okay. Nothing's-"

"You're wrong!" shouted Frank at the air, "It should have been me, you hear me!? It should have been me!"

"Frank…" said Karen sadly.

She could tell Frank was in a lot of pain. His eyes were filled with emotional agony. Whatever he was hallucinating, it was destroying him.

"NO!" roared Frank, shaking the whole chair, "No! They shouldn't have died!"

"Frank!" exclaimed Micro, hoping to distract him from this train of thought.

"It was me!" cried Frank, "I was the one who pulled the trigger. I'm the one who did it! It should have been me, not them!"

Frank's eyes were beginning to water now, though he was holding in the tears. His lips hung ever so slightly open as he listened to the hallucination. Whatever he was hearing, it was slowly breaking him down. Frank looked at the floor in horror and shook his head.

"It is…" he acknowledged, "It's my fault."

"No, Frank!" insisted Karen, "Whatever it is, it isn't your fault!"

"Maria…" whispered Frank.

"Oh God…" muttered Micro.

Maria was Frank's wife. Her death at Frank's wedding was what drove him to become the Punisher in the first place. Billy was the last living perpetrator of the massacre. If Frank was seeing Billy right now, Micro couldn't imagine the things Billy was saying about Maria.

"Billy did all that!" shouted Karen, starting to lose her cool, "Frank, you didn't do anything wrong! You did everything you could-"

"I got what I deserved," said Frank plainly, "but Maria and the others…"

"Frank," said Micro, placing a hand on Frank's shoulder.

"No!" roared Frank, writhing in the chair and rocking it back and forth.

"Frank, it's okay!" shouted Karen.

Frank thrust himself to the side, toppling the entire chair over. Both Karen and Micro reached for Frank as his chair hit the ground hard. He continued to thrash as much as he could, straining his wrists and ankles against the bonds in a futile attempt to break free. His veins were bulging and his skin was shining with sweat. When he opened his eyes again tears dripped out.

"Frank," whispered Micro, sitting beside Frank, "Frank, it's going to be okay. I promise. I'm right here. I've got your back."

"...Spook?" asked Frank, his voice trembling.

"Yes, it's me," said Micro calmly, "Don't worry. I'll stay here until it's over."

Frank nodded, looking straight ahead with pain in his eyes. Karen watched the two from the other side of the room. Micro looked at her. She nodded and left. Micro placed a reassuring hand on Frank's shoulder as he began to hyperventilate.

"Spook?" he managed between breaths, "I'm scared."

"That's okay, Frank," said Micro, "Me too. We'll get through it."

"Spook…" whispered Frank weakly, "You've got to get out of here…"

"I'm not going anywhere, Frank."

"No!" roared Frank, staring at something behind Micro, "No! You leave him ALONE!"

"It's okay, Frank-"

"NO!" continued Frank, "Stay away from him, you hear? STAY AWAY!"

Frank's whole body convulsed as he glared at the nonexistent person threatening him, teeth clenched so hard it was straining his jaw, sweat covering his desperate face, and eyes bulging with pain and emotional anguish.

"Frank, I'm safe," said Micro clearly, moving his face in front of Frank's, "Do you hear that? I'm safe."

Frank's body remained tense and strained for another few moments before he let out a long and shaky breath, body going limp in the chair as he nearly collapsed to the side. Micro knelt beside him and put his arms around him, holding him steady. Frank took another deep breath and let it out as a quiet sob.

Luke, Jessica, Karen, and Claire sat around a table in Heroes for Hire's kitchen. The others had gone home for the night. Soon Micro walked into the room, looking more tired than any of them had ever seen him before.

"Well?" asked Karen after a moment.

"He's back," said Micro expressionlessly, "He's asleep now, but he's back."

"Is he okay?" asked Jessica.

"As much as he can be," said Micro, "I don't want to think about what he saw on that stuff."

"Who is this Billy guy?" asked Luke.

"Bad news," said Karen.

"Once he's up again I say we take him back to the bunker," said Micro, "Give him some privacy. Even if he doesn't remember this, it's taken a huge toll on him."

"Wait a minute," said Claire, "So we're just letting the Punisher go? Just like that?"

"Yes," said Luke.

"Luke!" exclaimed Claire, "You can't be serious!"

"He isn't a serial killer, Claire," said Luke.

"Despite all evidence to the contrary," scoffed Jessica. Karen gave her a dirty look.

"Still!" argued Claire, "What if he gets hit by that stuff again? He could have killed someone."

"Could've happened to anyone," said Luke, "Hell, the way I see it, we're all extremely lucky I'm not the one who found that box."

"Why's that?" asked Jessica.

"Because none of you would have been able to stop me," smirked Luke.

Jessica rolled her eyes. Claire laughed. Even Karen managed a chuckle. Micro almost smiled, but his mind was occupied. He could only think about Frank, what he had gone through, and what he would keep going through as long as he lived. There wasn't a person in the world who could take that on alone. Micro wouldn't let Frank do that. He would stick by him no matter what.