A/N: I can't think of much to say here, except that when I wrote Frank Castle, I thought of the MCU version. That part about him working at an electronics store, that was the only thing I could think of to put in a cameo of David Lieberman, AKA Micro.

Butcher and Frank stopped at a brownstone and knocked on the steel door, where a woman with brown hair opened the door.

"Valkyrie." Butcher smiled. "Is Dax here?"

"Yes." Valkyrie begrudgingly answered. The two men followed her inside, seeing a man with his shirt off, with a buzzcut of blonde hair, and fiddling with firearms. Breaking them down, putting them together. Unloading, reloading.

"Butcher?" the man asked. "You here to pay me what you owe me?"

"Not quite, Dax." Billy told him, but held up a finger. "But, I have something better."

"And what's that?"

"You'll love it." Butcher grinned, leading him outside, while Frank took a look around at all the guns.

"See anything you like?" Valkyrie asked, holding onto a sniper rifle. Frank ignored her, and decided to go outside with Dax and Butcher.

"So what's in the trunk?" Dax asked. Billy winked, and popped it open.

"What the fuck? You guys are so dead-" a disembodied voice seemed to say, before Butcher pulled out a taser and electrocuted him.

"Holy fuck, you got Translucent!" Dax yelled, holding his head in surprise.

"Perceptive." Butcher grunted.

"You idiot!" Dax shouted, pulling a gun and aiming it at Butcher's head. "I want to get them back for what they did to the last team I was on, but what if he's chipped?"

"We'll take care of it." Butcher told him.

"No, you'll take care of it." Dax sneered. "This isn't my problem."

"Well, now it is, since he's seen your face."

Dax grit his teeth in anger, before putting the gun away.

"You owe me big, Butcher."

Black Noir walked down the halls of Seven Tower, where he was stopped by Starlight.

"Black Noir!" Starlight said happily. "I don't think we properly met, despite that… first meeting."

Black Noir looked impassively towards her, almost having no emotion.

"I just wanted to say… thank you for not being a part of… that." Annie stammered out. She couldn't bring herself to call it what it was. A sexual assault. Black Noir stared at her, before stepping around her, and continued walking.

"I look forward to… working with you?" Starlight called back. Still, Black Noir continued his stride, not even looking back to her.

If he was honest, he wasn't sure why he didn't partake in the gangbang blowjob. He's killed hundreds of people on the order of Vought or Homelander, but something about this… it just felt wrong. It was like his subconscious was nagging at him, somehow, to keep him from crossing that particular line.

Annie gulped, and walked up the stairs, where she knocked on the door of Madelyn Stillwell's office.

"Come in."

Starlight entered, much to the woman's surprise.

"Starlight, I wasn't expecting you." Stillwell said, hanging up the phone for a moment. "What can I do for you?"

"I want to file a claim for sexual harassment." Annie told her, without missing a beat.

"Against whom?"

"Homelander, the Deep, and Translucent."

Madelyn blinked for a second, before laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"The fact you're taking this seriously!" Stillwell chuckled. "Come on, they're members of the Seven! No one will believe you, especially not about Homelander!"

"But they did do it!" Starlight exclaimed. "And all the members were there!"

"And who will they believe?" Madelyn asked. "You, who just got into the team yesterday, or the Homelander?"

Annie stood up, furious, and turned to leave.

"I'll go public with this."

"Not if you want to keep your job." Stillwell threatened, just as Starlight slammed the door.

Butcher, Frank, and Dax drove to an abandoned warehouse, where they placed Translucent's body in a wired cage.

"And you're sure this'll block out his chip?" Dax asked, as Frank finished lining the wires and pipes in tin foil.

"It's RF foil, you can get it at a hardware store." Castle shrugged.

"You were tech intelligence?"

"Salesman."

Just then, Translucent woke up, as they all heard groans from the supposedly empty cage.

"What- where am I?"

"Morning, sunshine!" Butcher smirked.

"What the fuck is this-"

An ear piercing scream was heard, and bars suddenly sparked with electricity.

"Try that again, and you'll get fried." Butcher smiled, as he, Frank, and Dax began to leave.

"Wait, do you guys want money, or something?" Translucent asked.

"We don't want your fucking money." Butcher growled, as the three walked out of what used to be a freezer and slammed the door shut.

"So what do you think?" Butcher asked.

"I think you dropped the nuclear warhead of problems on my plate, asshole." Dax told him. "This is worse than Chernobyl. At least I had my team."

"Well, your team's not here, and you're not fighting robots." Butcher snapped. "Now, how are we going to kill this guy?"

"I don't know." Dax admitted. "He can change the carbon in his skin to be diamond hard. We can't suffocate him, Dominicans tried that already."

"How about electrocution?" Butcher suggested. "Up the juice."

"You just hit him with enough to take down a water buffalo." Dax said grimly. "It knocked him out, sure, but didn't kill him."

"You guys need to think outside of the box." Frank told them.

"Oh, you gonna share with the class, Castle?" Butcher asked sarcastically.

"I knew about some guy up in Harlem. Went by Luke Cage." Frank revealed. "His skin was unbreakable, until Hammer Industries developed these armor piercing rounds that could eat through anything… including Cage's skin cells."

"Great, and do you have any of those miracle bullets?"

"No, but after the military looked into them, we found out they were created from alien metal from the Chitauri invasion back in 2012." Frank continued. "From what I can recall, they were created by Hammer Industries."

"Well we don't have time to knock on their door and ask for some." Dax countered. "But I think I have an idea."

"Which is?" Butcher asked.

"I create a special bullet made from the same material that makes up his skin." Dax announced.

"Then what are you waiting for? Get on with it." Billy urged. Dax nodded, and quickly got to work.

While Dax was fixing up the bullet, Frank got a call on his phone. He checked the caller ID, revealing it to be Billy Russo.

"Shit." Frank muttered, before hitting accept.

"Frank, where the Hell are you, man?" Russo nearly yelled. "I just heard that someone crashed a car through David's store, and you haven't called or anything!"

"Listen, Bill, I just… I have some stuff going on." Frank told him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Frank looked across the rundown warehouse, seeing Butcher open up a briefcase to reveal a giant sniper rifle.

"Hey, I'll have to call you back, yeah?"

Before Russo could respond, Frank ended the call, and shut the phone off for good measure.

"Oi Frank! You ready?" Butcher asked, heaving the sniper rifle.

"Yeah." Frank nodded, and followed Billy to the back, where Dax just finished creating the bullet tip.

"Made from the same material as Translucent's skin." Dax smirked, pressing a dark black bullet tip into the shell and handing it to Butcher.

"Good work."

"Isn't it?"

Billy smirked, and pushed the round into the rifle, before he stepped into the old freezer. He aimed right at the center of the cage, where Translucent had to be, and fired the special found. The projectile ricocheted off of the invisible body, and pinged around the room.

"Butcher, move!" Frank yelled, grabbing Billy by the collar and pulling him back, slamming the door in the process.

"Hahaha, you fucking assholes! I'm invincible!" Translucent laughed. "It'll only be a matter of time before the Seven find me, and when they do, you're all dead!"

Butcher dropped the sniper rifle, and hit his hands on a nearby table. They were so close, so fucking close… and it didn't work. He had one more option up his sleeve, but no. He swore off that life when he met Becca. He couldn't do that again, especially not in this city.

"Got any more bright ideas?" Billy asked harshly. "Ones that will work this time?"

"Hey, listen asshole, you decided not to go with my plan." Frank scoffed. "I once knew a guy like you-"

"Doubt that." Butcher snapped.

"-Who wanted us to take out a high value target in Kandahar." Frank continued. "Both my friend and I saw through it that it was an ambush, but he didn't listen. The only ones who got out were him and me."

"So what, we're just supposed to leave him here?" Dax asked.

"No, I'll stay with him." Frank volunteered.

"None of us are going anywhere." Butcher decided. "We'll figure out another way."

Frank set his jaw in frustration, thinking back to what he knew about Luke Cage. The special bullets, called Judas, could break through his skin. He eventually got them out, but how? Castle racked his brain, trying to think, until it hit him.

"His insides." Frank realized.

"What?" Butcher asked.

"It's his skin that's indestructible, not his entire body." Frank reasoned. "Say we shove a bomb down his throat. That can kill him right then and there."

"Good idea." Dax grinned, grabbing the taser. "I need him asleep first."

"Hold on." Frank stopped the mercenary. "I need to talk to him."

"About what?" Butcher scoffed. "You gonna have tea with the cunt?"

"I just need to know what he was doing before A-Train killed my family."

Frank shoved past Butcher and Dax, and opened the freezer door.

"You up?"

No answer came from the cage, but Castle could barely hear the hero's breathing.

"Yeah, thought so." Frank muttered. "What was A-Train doing before he ran through that woman and her kids the other day?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Translucent asked.

"Heard you two were close-"

"Aw, you a fan?" Translucent sneered. "What were those people to you anyway, you're family?"

Frank's eye began twitching again, and his finger itched.

"Yeah, thought so." Translucent repeated what Castle said in a mocking tone. "You know my real superpower is reading people, right?"

"The Hell does that mean?" Frank growled.

"I mean, behind all this grim, dark and brooding facade, you're just scared." Translucent taunts. "Sooner or later, I'll be free, and Homelander will come to run his fist through your chest."

"Not if we kill you first."

"Ha, how?" Translucent countered. "My skin is indestructible! I'm a hero! We stop gangsters and terrorists daily!"

"You're no heroes." Frank sneered. "The Avengers, the Flash, Green Arrow, Superman, they were the real heroes. You dishonor them."

"So you're just going to kill us?" Translucent challenged.

"If that's what it takes, you're goddamned right." Frank snarled, stepping aside to let Dax come in and electrocute the supe. Translucent tried to turn invisible, but quickly passed out from the thousands of volts arcing through his body. Before Dax could enact his plan, he pulled out a bottle of pills, and swallowed one.

"Want one?" the merc asked, showing them to Frank. "Helps calm my nerves."

"I look nervous to you?" Frank muttered. Dax shrugged, put the bottle away, and he began to get to work.

At a gala in the Seven Tower, Black Noir stood next to the piano, his hands hanging freely by his sides. He surveyed the entire room, seeing many wealthy people there. Senators, politicians, mayors, all here to see the Seven, or talk with Stillwell.

Speaking of Madelyn, Noir saw her talking to one such senator, apparently in trying to get supes into the military. He didn't particularly like her, especially after discovering what his purpose was on the team, but somehow, he would always be ready to serve them. Like a lapdog.

Black Noir tilted his head to the side, noticing that Homelander and Maeve were also speaking with the guests. A few people would try to speak with Noir, but he wouldn't answer. He could speak, if he wanted to. He just chose not to.

Black Noir silently sighed, noticing Homelander suddenly leave. Most likely, to search for Translucent. It was going to be a long night.

Annie walked down the streets of New York in her civilian clothes, still trying to figure out what she was going to do about being in the Seven. She desperately wanted to tell someone about what happened, but Stillwell said herself that no one would believe her. It was like she was powerless.

As she was walking, she noticed two men forcing a woman onto the hood of a car, and beginning to take her pants off. Annie's eyes narrowed, hearing the woman scream no.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Annie demanded, making the two guys stop for a moment.

"Hey, we're all friends here." the man in the jean jacket and black ball cap said.

"She said no." Starlight grimaced.

"Well, fuck off bitch!" the guy in the plaid shirt sneered.

Annie took a deep breath, remembering what Frank told her about picking herself back up. Perhaps this was her way of doing it.

"Miss, please close your eyes."

Once the women did so, Annie's illuminated, and she fired a blast of light at one of the would-be rapists, knocking him out instantly. The other one in the black hat ran to punch her, but Annie grabbed his fist and smashed his head into a nearby car window, knocking him out as well.

Starlight looked back, seeing the woman running away, and smiled. She just stopped a rape from happening. Maybe this really was her getting power back, if only a little.

Dax finished his handiwork, and closed the wire cage, with Frank looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

"I said shove it down his throat." Castle chastised.

"Yeah, but I don't really listen to commands." Dax smirked, then faltered. "Wait, sorry. You weren't in my team…"

"What happened to them?" Frank asked. Dax sighed, and sat down for a moment.

"Did Butcher ever tell you he and I were part of a team called the Boys?"

Frank shook his head.

"Yeah, we were backed by the CIA and FBI." Dax revealed. "We were designed to take out the supes. And believe it or not, we're not the only organization hired by them for covert operations."

"You heard of Cerberus Squad?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, they were a black ops team sent out in Afghanistan…" Dax's voice trailed off. "...and you were in it."

"Yeah." Frank nodded. "What was that about more organizations?"

"Oh, right." Dax smiled wryly. "The CIA, they'd hire independent mercenaries to keep their hands clean. The Expendables were a favorite of theirs. Used them over twenty times. Or your squad. Hell, even ARGUS used the Suicide Squad-"

"What about your team?" Frank interrupted. Dax sighed in disappointment.

"Sorry. I get off track. I was in this team, Valkyrie was in it too, led by a guy named Rekker." Dax told him. "One of our last missions was to Chernobyl, but we got ambushed by these robotic drones. Turns out we were set up by the guy who hired us, some asshole named Kess."

"What happened?" Frank asked.

"Well, we kicked their asses… but about a year later, when Thanos made everyone turn to dust, only Valkyrie and I remained." Dax looked down at the floor. "Honestly, after seeing supes not care who they hurt, I think they let the Avengers die. And now, there's no way to bring them back."

"So all we've got left is to hit the cunts where they hurt." Butcher agreed, stepping into the room, just as Translucent woke up.

"What… what the fuck did you do to me?" the supe asked.

"Shoved a lump of plastic up your asshole." Butcher grinned. "See, Frankie here realized you and an old friend of his had something in common. Your skin was indestructible, but your insides… they're soft, just like the rest of us."

"Oh shit." Translucent shuddered, making himself visible.

"It was awesome, right?" Dax smiled. "You're like a fucking turtle!"

"Now, you try and stick your finger up there to fish it out-" Butcher flipped Translucent off to prove a point. "Boom. My finger slips on this detonator-"

He held up his hand, revealing a jury rigged explosive detonator.

"Also boom. Savvy?"

"Please, don't kill me." Translucent begged. "I'll tell you anything. I'll-I'll-"

"What was A-Train doing?" Frank growled, stepping closer to the cage. "Where was he?"

"He was leaving Popclaw's, I know that!" Translucent shouted. "He doesn't think anyone knows he loves her, but I do. Shit, that's probably why he didn't partake…"

"Partake in what?" Butcher asked, intrigued.

"When we… made the newest member suck our cocks." Translucent murmured. Frank's eyes widened with rage, realizing the member in question was Starlight, or Annie as he knew her, and he grabbed the detonator.

"Who all made her do it?" Frank practically yelled, fingering the button. "You better answer now."

"It was Homelander, me, and the Deep!" Translucent quickly said. "That's it, I swear!"

Frank's finger began twitching, ready to hit the button, when Butcher grabbed his wrist.

"Wait, Castle." Billy growled. "If we're in here, we'll get blown up with him."

Frank reluctantly nodded, and the three began to leave.

"Wait, I can tell you more!"

"Fuck off, you wanker." Butcher muttered, slamming the door. Frank was about to trigger the detonator again, when he looked at the monitors to the security cameras outside, seeing something zooming across the sky.

"What is that?" Dax asked, noticing the object as well.

"Homelander." Butcher muttered.

"Shit." Frank groaned. "He can see us, and probably hear us."

"Then we need to throw him off our scent." Butcher decided, turning to Dax. "Pittsburgh."

"Fuck." Dax sighed, making a phone call. "Hey, Val? Yeah, we need to blow it. Three minutes? Thanks. And get all our guns, will you?"

Dax shut the phone off, and he and Butcher began to walk outside.

"Frank, babysit our guest." Billy gruffly called back, making Castle form his mouth in a tight line.

"Please, don't kill me!"

Frank looked back at the freezer, seeing Translucent speaking in a soft voice.

"Why not?" Frank asked, holding up the detonator.

"Because you'll never stop running."

"A bit late for that." Frank scoffed.

"You don't have to do this."

"No, I want to."

"Please, I have a family of my own."

"I don't."

Seconds passed, with the two individuals staring at each other. Suddenly, Frank heard what sounded like a sonic boom, and he looked at the monitors, just barely catching Homelander leave the area, with Dax and Butcher next to a black van.

"Time's up." Frank glared at Translucent.

"Look, killing me won't bring your family back."

"No, but it'll wipe out one less asshole like you." Castle sneered, and repeated his daughter's favorite memory rhyme.

One Batch, Two Batch. Penny and Dime.

Frank took a deep breath, and pressed the button. In an instant, Translucent exploded, showering the entire room with his blood and guts. The door miraculously stayed on its hinges, but the window was painted red.

Seconds later, Butcher and Dax ran back into the warehouse, surprised at the sight.

"God dammit, Frank, solid work there!" Butcher said happily. "Didn't even get anything on your clothes!"

"Hmm." Frank grunted, opening the freezer door. "What are we going to do with it?"

"We'll take care of it, don't worry." Dax winked.

"I need to go home for a minute." Frank suddenly said.

"Frank, you just ass bombed America's sweetheart. There's no going home after this." Butcher reminded him.

"I just need to get some things." Frank told him.

"Fine, Dax will go with you."

"No." Frank said in a low voice.

"Either he goes, or I break your legs." Billy threatened.

"I'd like to see you try." Frank threatened back. The two men glared at each other, before Dax stepped in.

"Hey Butcher, you need my help to clean up this mess anyway." Dax told him. "You need my creativity to get rid of it."

Butcher sharply inhaled, and slowly let the air out of his nose.

"Fine." Butcher muttered. "Just be back soon Castle."

Frank didn't respond, and just walked out of the warehouse.

"Translucent's skin won't burn." Dax pointed out. "And how are we going to hide this where Homelander won't find him?"

"We won't." Butcher admitted. "But that doesn't mean we can't slow the cunt down."

Once Butcher and Dax had all of Translucent's body parts in trash bags, they put them in a heavy metal box, and Dax carried it away. When he was finally alone, Butcher pulled out to grenades, admiring them for a moment. They had originally been part of a special tipped bullet, from the last city he was in, and they were much more advanced than thermite grenades…

Butcher shook his head again. That was a long time ago. There's no way he could go back. And now, he had a new purpose.

Billy threw the grenades in, and slammed the door, just as they exploded and set everything on fire. Butcher smirked at his job well done, and walked out of the warehouse, joining Dax in the black van.

"Where to?" Dax asked.

"Hudson river." Butcher grinned smugly.

Starlight walked into Stillwell's office, this time not of her own free will.

"You wanted to see me, Miss Stillwell?"

"Yes, sit down." Madelyn smiled, having taken a seat on the couch with her assistant Ashley, as well as two of their best writers, and costume designer with glasses.

"So, we saw what you did in the streets, and we loved it."

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked, confused.

"How you stopped those rapists?" One of the writers, a bald African American named Seth, spoke up. "There was a video of it on Youtube!"

"Someone took a video?"

"Yeah, and your points have gone way up!" Ashley said excitedly. "So, we've decided to come up with a story for you."

"Just thing: a little girl from Iowa is a child prodigy, comes to the Big Apple, but finds it's full of worms." Seth told her. "But does she get knocked down? No, she gets back up. She adapts, transforms! She decides to embrace her femininity, showing she's comfortable in her skin!"

At that moment, the costume designer pulled off a blanket in the corner, revealing an incredibly tight and revealing white and gold costume. Starlight looked at the costume in mild disdain, realizing it must be for her.

"I can't wear that." she protested.

"Why? It's empowering, and feminist." Seth told her.

"How is that feminist?" Starlight retorted. "It's showing too much skin."

"Edna here designed Homelander's suit." Madelyn told her. "She knows what she's doing."

"But it's my body." Annie protested. "Shouldn't it be my choice?"

"Of course… if you don't want to be in the Seven."

Madelyn let the threat linger, making Starlight sigh. Every day, it seemed like being on the team was a chore. But then, she fought back to what her mother, and Frank said.

"Keep smiling, the show must go on!"

"When you get knocked down, pull yourself back up."

So, despite her better judgement, Starlight looked at the suit, and smiled.

A/N: In case anyone doesn't know, Dax and Valkyrie are from the 2018 film Battle Drone. It was a bit like a knockoff version of the Expendables where a team of mercenaries are on a mission in Chernobyl but get ambushed by robots. I thought it was underrated, and I liked the characters in it.

I did make a small change to how the show portrayed Starlight's assault, in that now Homelander is in on it like the comic. Madelyn Stillwell also takes a bigger role in covering for them.

Last thing, my character replacement for Mother's Milk will show up in the next chapter. Most chapters will correspond with the episodes, but not all the time. Also, not all chapter titles will be the same titles of the episodes.

Stay tuned, and happy Labor Day!