A/N: Okay, so I need to fix an error from the prologue. Unfortunately, I lost the document, and I have no way of getting it back without rewriting the entire chapter from scratch, so I'll just put the correction here:

I fucked up on the timeline. I originally wrote in that the Seven don't appear until after the Avengers Civil War. However, after I re read it myself, I realized that it doesn't match up with some of the later chapters, so here's the revised timeline.

The Seven aren't fully formed until after the Avengers save New York in 2012. I am planning on showing a small bit of that Christmas party where Butcher meets Homelander, but that will be when the heroes just work individually.

Oh, the reason why the story is set in 2021 instead of 2019-2020 will make sense a little bit later.

All good? Okay, onto the story!

2021

"'Invisible Force'?" Tim scoffed, as his friend Richie eyed the poster of a black suit standing up without a body, holding a gun. "Nah, I'm more into the Deep."

"Translucent could kick Deep's ass." Richie insisted. "He's invisible, right? He sneaks up on him, and pops a cap in his ass!"

"Bullshit, the Deep can just tell a shark to bite his dick off!"

"How will he find the dick, he's invisible!"

Just then, the two boys whipped their heads to the right, seeing an armored truck barrelling towards them. Richie started to run, but looked back, seeing his friend had tripped. Rich went back, pulling Tim up by his blue hoodie, just as the form of a woman landed right in front of them, smashing through the front of the truck. The boys watched the front of the vehicle shatter, and heard what sounded like fighting, as well as sizable dents form on the outside of the back of the truck.

One man, wearing a black suit and ski mask, crawled out of the truck and spat out blood. Another man of similar outfit accompanied him, and the moment they saw the kids, they instantly grabbed them and held machine guns to their head.

Queen Maeve stepped out of the ruined truck, having beaten the robbers in the back, and going to confront the men who had hostages.

"Let us go, bitch!" one of the thugs screamed. "Or these kids die!"

Maeve smirked, as a ruby red laser pierced the machine gun. The metal began to melt, scorching the man's hand, and he screamed loudly, falling to the ground and letting his hostage go. His cohort, terrified at seeing the Homelander land in front of him, opened fire, spraying wildly at the supe. The bullets did nothing, and Homelander knocked the weapon away with a light pat, before grabbing the robber's collar and throwing him up into the air.

Homelander turned around, seeing the boys staring at him in awe.

"You boys okay?" Homelander asked, as the robber's body crashed onto a car several blocks away.

"Holy shit, it's Homelander!" Tim shouted. "Can we have a selfie!"

"Sure!" Homelander grinned, as the kids huddled in close.

"Another daring rescue by the Homelander and Queen Maeve today, where they foiled a bank robbery-"

Frank Castle walked down the sidewalk with his family, passing by a television displayed in a window. Frank ignored the news anchor, but his kids didn't.

"Wow, Homelander!" Frank Junior exclaimed, while wearing a black shirt with a skull on it. "Dad, do you have a favorite superhero?"

"Eh, there's too many to count really." Frank shrugged.

"I like Queen Maeve!" Lisa said proudly, looking down at her shirt of the supe.

"Ha, Homelander could kick Maeve's ass!"

"Language, Frank!" Castle's wife, Maria, chided.

"No he couldn't!" Lisa retorted.

"Yes he could!"

"Kids, don't argue." Frank scolded, while rolling his eyes. "You can both have your favorite heroes."

"Well, I know who my favorite hero is." Maria said, wrapping her husband in a hug and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Frank smiled, and stared past his family, seeing an ice cream cart across the street.

"Tell you what, how 'bout I get you all some ice cream?"

"Thanks Dad!" both Frank Junior and Lisa giggled, while Maria smiled.

Frank all but jogged to the ice cream stand, and quickly paid for four cones, all chocolate scoops. He turned around, smiling towards his wife, when all of a sudden, a blue and white blur zoomed through his vision. It was almost like in slow motion, yet happened so fast. Castle dropped the cones, as he felt several droplets of blood dot his face. A giant wave of the red fluid suddenly crashed into the ground, with fragments of spines, jaws, and bits of skull.

"Maria?" Frank asked, slowly turning his head to the left. Standing at the end of blood spatter was an African American man in a blue and red suit, with black hair and an A on his chest. Unfortunately, Frank knew who he was. How could he not? He was a member of the Seven.

A-Train.

The supe took off his mask for a moment, and looked at his hands and chest, seeing they were coated in blood.

"Can't stop. Can't stop. Can't stop." A-Train murmured, and sped off. Frank jerked his head back to the pile of gore, where his family once was.

"Maria… Frankie… Lisa…" Castle cried out, beginning to sob.

Des Moines, Iowa

In a suburban home of Des Moines, an alarm clock rang off at 7 AM. After several seconds of beeping, a hand slapped the top of the device, and Annie January woke up.

After doing her usual routine; one handed pull ups, lifting a car with one hand, and punching holes in the side of her brick garage, she went back inside, wearing her costume of white and gold, with a hoodie draped over her face.

"Are there any crimes being reported?" Annie's mother, Donna, asked, as she fiddled with a police scanner.

"No, it's just client week." Annie sighed, thinking back to her interview with Vought.

"When we first discovered I was super-able, my mother was thrilled. Always taking me to hero pageants, but I just hated it. I didn't think being a hero was looking good.

"Growing up, heroes like Captain America and Thor always inspired me. It broke my heart to hear that they died. But that's why I wanted to join the Seven, to honor what the Avengers stood for.

"Whenever the Q and A came for the pageants, the judges would always ask what I wanted to do when I grew up. I always replied that I wanted to save the world, and they chuckled. Why? When did hope become synonymous with naivitae? Isn't that what heroes are supposed to be?"

After other questions, Annie had demonstrated her powers, by sucking in the energy from the lights, and shooting the light out of her hands, simultaneously making her eyes glow.

"Oh, too bad." Donna sighed. "We could really use the PR right now."

Just then, the phone rang, and Annie quickly picked up.

"Hello? Yes. Yes, this is she. Wait. No way. I got it?"

"You got in?" Donna asked, beginning to shriek in joy. Annie put a finger to her lips, telling her mother to stay silent, and kept speaking.

"Sorry, thank you. So when do I go?"

Frank sat on the couch of his family's home, wearing his best funeral suit. Next to him was his old friend from the Marine Corps, Billy Russo.

"Well, I thought the service was nice." Russo said, trying to comfort his best friend. Frank stared at the tv, where A-Train and Vought were on the screen with reporters.

"We're here live with A-Train and Vought, who are offering their deepest condolences with Frank Castle for losing his family."

"Hey, my sympathies. I was chasing down some robbers, and the family shouldn't have been in the middle of the road."

"They weren't on the road." Frank growled softly.

"What?" Billy asked.

"They weren't in the middle of the road." Frank repeated, louder this time. "They were one step off the fucking curb!"

"Hey, Frankie, let it go-"

"Let it go?!" Frank snarled, turning on his friend. "He murdered my wife and children, Bill!"

"And what can you do about it, Frank?" Russo asked, standing up. "Guys like him, it's never on them!"

"Ah, bullshit!" Frank yelled, picking up a lamp next to them and throwing it across the room. Billy sighed, and sat back down.

"Someone called asking about you today." Russo said, handing him a folded piece of paper. "It's from Vought."

"The fuck do they want?"

"They said they wanted to give you some restitution money." Billy told him. "They want to make this right."

"Yeah, sure they do." Frank snorted. "No, Bill, they just want me to shut up. Don't lawyer up, like I should."

"Look at us, Frank. You can't even afford a lawyer, and it's a lot of money." Russo told him. "135,000 dollars. Just… just think about it, yeah?"

"Sure, Bill." Frank grunted, and with that, walked upstairs to change clothes and head outside.

Annie, also known by her superhero name "Starlight", walked into the Seven's main office, seeing a giant glass table in the middle. There were six chairs at the moment, but she hoped she'd get her own soon enough. Sitting in those chairs were the other members of the Seven themselves: Homelander, Queen Maeve, Black Noir, the Deep, Translucent, and A-Train.

"Starlight, glad you could make it." Homelander grinned.

"So am I." Starlight smiled back. "I'm still amazed I could get into the Seven."

"Well, there is one thing you have to do to make it official." Homelander smiled, beginning to undo his pants.

"What's that?" Annie asked, confused.

"Blow us." the Deep replied, taking off his pants as well, and was followed by Homelander and Translucent. Starlight blinked.

"What?"

"You heard the fish guy." Homelander smirked, putting his hands on his hips. "It's not going to suck itself."

"But… but…" Starlight looked towards Maeve, A-Train and even Black Noir for support. Maeve turned away, sipping liquor from a glass, while Black Noir stared at the situation impassively. As for A-Train he just stared at the ground, keeping silent.

"Look, do you want to be in the Seven, or not?" Translucent asked, now being just a suit jacket floating in midair.

Annie fought back her tears, and crouched into a kneeling position in front of Homelander, preparing to do the deed in disgust.

"Thanks, have a nice day!"

Frank did his best to smile at the customer, as they left the electronics store. After he and Russo left the Corps, Frank couldn't get a decent job, but luckily, the store was run by another old friend of his, David Lieberman.

As Frank headed back to the counter, the door opened, with the bell ringing, and in walked a man as tall as him, wearing a black trenchcoat and sporting a thick black beard.

"Can I help you?"

"It's more about what I can help you with, mate." the man told him, in a thick British accent. "See, I heard about what happened to your family."

"What do you mean?" Frank asked.

"They weren't in the middle of the street, they were one step off the fucking curb."

"Okay, who the Hell are you?"

"Sorry, where are my manners." the man scoffed, revealing an FBI badge. "Name's Billy Butcher. FBI. And you and me, Frank, we're gonna have a chat."

"I don't need any trouble-"

"Oh don't worry about it son." Billy scoffed. "I'm just trying to help you get back at the bastards who wronged you. That shite where someone dies, and Vought sweeps it under the rug? Happens more often than you think."

"If that's true, why doesn't anyone talk about it?" Frank asked.

"Look around, mate." Butcher moved his arms in a circular motion, leading Frank to stare at television sets that were playing interviews of Translucent with Jimmy Fallon.

"So, I don't actually vanish. My skin turns into a carbon nano-material, that bends the light to make it seem like an invisibility cloak."

To prove his point, Translucent rolled up the sleeve on his arm, and his arm slowly disappeared in front of Fallon and everyone.

"So, just making sure, you have to be completely naked, right?" Fallon asked, earning cheers from what sounded like female audience members.

"Merchandise, Frank." Butcher revealed. "Comic books, films, video games, Halloween costumes. People find out their heroes have done some pretty dark shit, they're no longer profitable. And that's where I come in."

"Come in for what?"

"To put the cunts back in their place." Butcher smirked, turning to the door. "C'mon, you need to see this."

Music: "Think" by Kaleida

Butcher and Castle walked over to an underground club, where Billy knocked on the metal door. A small metal window was opened, and a bald, African American man with glasses stood on the other end.

"You know what they will do to me if I let you in, Mister Butcher." the man said.

"Not half as much as what I'll do to you." Butcher threatened. The man sighed, and opened the door.

"This was better when we had an agreement of no interference from law enforcement." the man muttered.

"You can blame the supes for that one Charon." Billy shrugged, as he and Castle walked in.

"No interference?" Frank asked.

"This place used to be run by an assassination organization called the High Table." Butcher explained. "Somehow, Vought found out, wiped out all their leaders, and took this hotel for themselves. Now it's a lounge for supes to do what they'd like, without the press knowing."

Castle looked around, seeing a man with white hair and a white shirt getting oral from another man, while he extended his body to an unnatural length to kiss two other guys a few feet away.

"Isn't that Ezekiel?" Frank asked. "The prick with the powers of Elongated Man?"

"And the whole Pray the Gay Away shite." Butcher added. "The guy's a fucking hypocrite."

Frank and Butcher continued walking through the lounge, until they reached a back room filled with monitors. Charon instantly got to work in speeding up the footage, until they all saw A-Train conversing with another supe.

"So wait, you ran through a bitch?"

"Not just her, but her little fuckers as well. I think I swallowed some of their teeth too."

"Dude, that's fucking gross." the other supe said, before they both started laughing.

"They're laughing." Frank's eyes dilated in fury. "They're laughing, like it's a fucking joke!"

"And that's why we can help each other." Butcher said to Castle.

"What do you need?" Frank asked coolly.

"You need to take Vought's offer."

"WHAT!"

"But once you're there, say you need to take a shit, and plant a bug."

Frank squinted at Butcher, and began to walk off.

"Nevermind, I'll do it my own way."

"And what's that?" Butcher asked.

"Gonna find him, gonna kill him." Frank growled.

"You really think it's that easy?" Billy rolled his eyes. "You just walk up to a speedster and put a bullet in his head like you're some sort of punisher bloke? These are the supes we're talking about! We gotta be smart about this!"

"Doesn't matter." Frank snarled, and continued walking away.

"At least sleep on it, Castle." Butcher called after him. Despite Frank walking at a quick pace, Billy slowly followed after him.

Frank walked for what felt like forever, until he got to Central Park. He sat down at a bench that faced the carousel, and recounted memories of his children riding the metallic horses, while his wife watched.

Amidst his thoughts, he heard someone sit down, and looked over, seeing a woman with blonde hair talking on the phone.

"Mom, something happened when I got here-"

The young woman stopped, and Frank could just barely hear someone else chatter from the phone. The woman wore a pained expression, and tears began to form in her eyes.

"Uh… nothing Mom. I love you."

She shut off her phone, and hung her head. Frank heard her begin to cry, and that's when he decided to speak.

"Hey, uh… you okay?"

The girl looked up, apparently now realizing he was there.

"Oh, I'm fine… just had a bad day."

"Me too. Work, or life?" Frank prodded.

"Work. You?"

"Life." Frank mumbled. The girl began staring off into the distance, and if he didn't know better, he thought she was practicing her thousand yard stare.

"You know, I always had this image of myself being made of steel, a fighter." the woman whispered. "But I was in a shitty situation with these assholes, and through it all, I heard my mom saying 'Keep your head up! The show must go on!'. Well, I didn't fight, and now I feel sick, like I'm weak."

"No." Frank told her. "You're not weak."

"Oh… sorry, I didn't mean to dump all that on you-"

"No, it's okay." Frank told her. "But, do you like your job?"

"Yes. It's a great job. One where I can actually help people."

Frank lightly smirked, and looked at his shoes.

"Then you shouldn't let those assholes ruin it for you." Frank mumbled. "You fell down, but are you going to stay there, or are you going to pick yourself back up?"

The woman stared at Frank, and grinned.

"I'm going to pick myself up." the girl smiled. "I'm a fighter. I'm gonna take those pricks down!"

Frank smirked, liking this woman's attitude.

"I'm Frank, by the way."

"Annie."

Annie stuck out her hand towards Castle, who shook it after a few seconds. Frank then got up, and walked out of Central Park, where he found Butcher waiting for him.

"Are you following me?"

"Don't make it sound so bad, Frankie." Butcher chided. "So how about my offer?"

"I'll do it." Frank grunted, and turned on his cellphone. After dialing the number Russo gave him, he heard someone pick up.

"Hello, is this Mister Freeman?"

"Yes?"

"Hey, it's Frank Castle. You wanted to speak to me yesterday about a settlement about A-Train killing my family? I'll do it, but I want him to be there to apologize."

"He kind of already apologized on live tv."

"Not really." Frank said in a low tone. "Either he says sorry right to my face, or the deal's off."

There was a pause on the phone, before Freeman spoke again.

"We'll see what we can do."

The phone hung up, and Frank turned to Butcher.

"We got it."

"Great." Butcher grinned, and handed him a small electronic disc. "Now, while you're there, I need you to plant a bug underneath the table. Just tell them you need to take a shit, and while you're in there, take the thing out of your phone case. Easy peasy, Japaneasy. Got all that?"

"Yeah." Frank nodded, as he took the bug and stuck it between his phone and case.

Music: "Take You Down" by Daniel Pemberton

An hour later, Frank walked into the Seven Tower, emptying his pockets and walking past the metal detector without a hitch. He rode up the elevator, and entered the Seven's main office, sitting down in one of the chairs at the big glass table shaped like the number seven. A few minutes after that, Freeman, A-Train, and a woman with curly red hair emerged. Whatever the lawyer was saying, Frank couldn't hear him, as he saw A-Train drenched in blood, and hearing him laugh from running through his family.

"Hey man, you okay?"

Frank's eye twitched, and his finger trembled, like he was shooting a gun. He desperately wanted to kill the speedster right here and now, but…

"I'm fine." Frank lied, holding out his hand. "Accidents happen, right? Collateral damage."

"See, you get it." A-Train smiled. "I'm sorry about all that, man."

"Okay, he needs to go." the woman with red hair announced. "Superheroes always have to be on the clock."

As she led A-Train out, Frank looked over to Freeman.

"Hey, where's your latrine?"

A few short minutes later, and Castle found himself in a stall, opening up his phone and pulling the bug out. Frank took a deep breath, and stepped out of the bathroom, heading back to the Seven's office. Along the way, he ran into that same woman he met at the park bench, but she was wearing a white and gold costume, with a cape to match.

"Annie?" Frank asked, blinking in surprise.

"Frank?" Starlight took a step back.

"What are you doing here?" Castle asked.

"This is... my job. I'm the newest member of the Seven." Annie told him, smiling shyly. "What are you doing here?"

"Just… taking care of business." Frank told her casually. It wasn't exactly a lie. Just not the full truth. Annie looked at him curiously, but then shrugged.

"Sorry, I gotta go." Starlight apologized, walking towards the bathroom. "It was good seeing you again."

"You too." Frank smirked, and entered the Seven's office.

"All done?" Freeman asked mockingly, holding out a pen. Frank didn't respond, and instead grabbed the pen, signed the document to keep his mouth shut, and discreetly placed the bug underneath the table.

"So you got the bug placed?" Butcher asked, as he and Frank drove down the streets of New York.

"Yeah." Frank nodded, looking out the window and seeing the sign for the store he worked at. Lieberman's Audio and Visuals.

"Thanks for the drop off."

"Anything for a friend." Butcher smirked. "I'll call you if I need you again."

Frank nodded, and turned back towards Butcher as he got out of the car.

"Wanna see a prick asshole tear up 135 grand?"

Frank held out the check, and tore it to shreds. Butcher smiled.

"You're a good guy, Frank."

Castle smirked back and walked back into the store, where he was met by Lieberman.

"Hey Frank, you mind closing up shop?" David asked, as the televisions began to play a newsreel about putting supes in the military.

"Sure David." Frank told his boss, and sat at the counter. He watched, as Lieberman opened the door to leave, but even after several seconds, the door didn't close. Frank frowned, not remembering there being wind, when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching him.

"Oh, fuck…" Frank groaned. The memory of one supe in particular came to mind. One who could turn himself invisible…

"Who are you?"

Frank stood up, staring seemingly at the wall.

"Fuck off, asshole."

"You think we wouldn't find this thing… Frank?"

Translucent held up the bug, before dropping it onto the counter. Frank's store badge suddenly floated in front of him, and Castle drew his fist back to punch the invisible supe. When he pushed his fist forward though, it stopped, like it hit an invisible barrier, and Frank was suddenly thrown across the length of the store.

"You asshole, I followed you from the store." Translucent growled, walking up to Frank as he went to stand up. "Who was the guy in the car with you?"

"Don't know." Frank said casually. "He was my uber."

"Bullshit! He probably told you to plant the bug!" Translucent yelled, as a tv was ripped off the wall and floating towards him. "Do you know who we are? We're the Seven, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, motherfucker-"

A car suddenly plowed through the store's windows, and an invisible force smashed through all of the shelves. Frank looked over, seeing Butcher step out.

"Sorry about the mess mate." Billy shrugged, pulling out a crowbar. "You might want to fuck off out of here, Frank."

"You don't know me at all." Frank retorted, balling his hands into fists. "Things they taught me in the Marines… you don't leave a man behind."

Music: "London Calling" by the Clash

"Noted." Butcher shrugged, and walked forward to what he assumed was Translucent.

"Well well well… if it ain't the invisible cunt."

Butcher swung the crowbar down, but hit nothing. Translucent laughed, and punched him across the room. Frank ran towards where he was hit, and attempted to throw a punch, but felt something grab the side of his head and smash it into a wall. At that moment, Butcher got back up, where Translucent began punching him in the face. Billy tried to punch back, but both his arms were grabbed. Butcher smirked, and after hocking up a load, spat blood in his face, painting the invisible body red.

"There you are!"

Frank got back up as well, and the two began pummelling Translucent, blocking his hits and spitting more blood to reveal his humanoid form. While fighting, Frank kicked his leg, sending the supe to one knee, while Butcher slammed his boot into his face. Translucent crumpled to the ground, and Frank looked back towards the ruined tv, seeing the cable ripped out, with electrical wires exposed.

Castle calmly walked over to the ruined cable, picking it up, and jamming it into Translucent's side, just before he could pick himself back up. The invisible hero screamed, as his whole body was electrocuted, and he stilled on the floor.

"Bloody Hell, that was diabolical!" Butcher smirked, kicking Translucent just to make sure he wasn't going to move. "But how'd you know electrocution would do the trick?"

"Skin's carbon. Highly conductive." Frank murmured. "Saw it on Jimmy Fallon."

"Good work, Frank." Butcher complimented, then picked up Translucent's head. "Now let's get him in the trunk."

"Why?" Frank asked, curious.

"Well, you just offed one of the Seven."

"You hit him with the car, asshole."

"Potato, pa-fucking-tah-to, we're still in deep shit!" Butcher shouted.

"Then call up your buddies in the feds to help us." Frank reasoned.

"Yeah, about that… I'm not in the feds. Not anymore."

Frank widened his eyes slightly, and felt his anger rise up.

"Then who the fuck are you?!"

Just then, they both heard sirens in the distance.

"Hear that?" Butcher asked, jerking a thumb behind him. "Unless you want us to explain why one of the Seven is laying on the floor, gimme a hand, will ya?"

Frank stood there, feeling his eye twitch, and his finger itching again, before he finally gained control again.

"Ah, shit."

Castle grabbed Translucent's feet, and together, he and Butcher hauled the invisible body into the trunk, and drove off, away from the electronics store.

"Right, so, I used to work for the feds, but not anymore." Butcher explained. "I'm an… independent contractor. You want something done, you hire me."

Suddenly, Frank heard something- or someone- banging against the trunk.

"Shit." Frank cursed. "He's alive. And he's seen our faces."

"Don't worry about it, Castle." Billy smirked. "I know a guy. He'll know what to do."

A/N: So obviously, Frank Castle replaces Hughie in this fic. He will have a relationship with Starlight, but it won't be the same as Hughie's in the show. Instead, it'll be more like a friendship. Also, he doesn't become the Punisher until much later in the story. I won't say when though.

Anyone catch the John Wick reference? He's not going to appear though. Let's just say that he and everyone who worked for the Continental and High Table were killed off by Homelander and other supes, including Winston. Charon's the only one who survived, and only because he made a deal to manage the place.

Last thing, the next chapter will feature a character from a movie that I think is underrated, who replaces Frenchie. With that is the forewarning that pretty much none of the original Boys characters are in this, save for the supes, Vought, and Butcher.

Bye for now!