The day ends quickly after lunch, no meetings or anything to really keep them there after that. They do, however, stay behind to take a shot of the whiskey Foggy apparently hides in his desk as commemoration of their first year of being in business. He suggested going on a bar hop for a bit before they actually go home, but Karen was expecting a phone call about a doctor's appointment and couldn't make it, and he never really expected Matt to go out since he still has Leslie. So he ended up taking his whiskey home.

Matt makes the final turn to make it onto his block, a new sense of calm washing over him as he does. Now that Leslie has opened up the option of talking, he starts to think about the conversations they can actually have with each other rather than the struggle of communication they seem to have going on now. Ok, he'll admit he's getting a bit ahead of himself with that daydream, but it's a happy thought he can tend to.

Leslie's heart rate comes into his hearing range not too long after he gets inside the building, the pace it's going telling him that she's asleep soundly. He smiles for a moment before a second heartbeat enters his range, causing him to pause on the stairs and focus harder. After a moment, Matt drops his cane and makes a dash for his apartment.

There's no sign of forced entry, but he doubts there will ever be with this man. He's too skilled to do something that sloppy. But he did ding the lock on the window. Matt assumes it's from shoving a knife through to open it, but he's too concerned to ask. Instead, he clears the stairs in record time and shoves his key in the lock, very nearly ripping the door off the hinges with the amount of force he uses to open it. Surprisingly, Leslie doesn't stir.

Frank Castle lifts his head from where it rests on the back of the couch, turning in Matt's direction as he enters. Leslie sleeps soundly with her head resting on his leg, the slight salt scent he can catch coming from her indicating she was crying a while back. Probably a panic attack due to Frank's sudden appearance. Understandably, of course, given the amount of weapons he left by the window.

"Hey, Red," he greets almost cheerfully, lifting a hand and waving slightly. "I heard about a Russian sex worker going missing over the weekend. Is this her?"

"What did you do to her?" Matt asks coldly, noting the way Frank shakes his head dismissively. "She-"

"Has no problem with me," Frank finishes for him. "Once I told her I killed a few of the bastards on the docks, she seemed to relax." He releases a few chuckles and shakes his head fondly. "She had a bit of an issue when I got here, though. But it all worked out."

A white hot anger flashes through Matt's core at the casualness of his tone, but he chews on the inside of his cheek to keep himself in check. "Why are you here, Frank?" he starts instead. "How did you even find out where I live?"

Frank shrugs carelessly. "I have friends all over the place, Red," he reminds. "But only I know now. So don't worry about it."

Another flash of anger and he's clenching a fist. "You kill too easily."

"And you don't do it enough." Frank lifts a hand to keep him from responding. "But that's a conversation for another time," he finishes. "Is this really the girl who disappeared from the Russians?" he asks, resting a hand on Leslie's shoulder. It was light enough, but she still jumps subconsciously at the contact. "She looks pretty banged up."

Matt's fist relaxes and he sighs heavily. There's really no point in getting mad. Ok, there is, but it's not going to accomplish anything. Frank will be Frank. Plus Leslie apparently doesn't see him as a threat, so that has to count for something, right?

"Yeah," he answers, "she is. I picked her up about a week ago. She's better than she was before. At least, she sounds better." He lifts a hand and waves it in front of his face. "I can't see if she looks better."

Frank chuckles at the notion and nods in agreement. "So you've had her all this time and no one bothered to tell you how she looks?" he laughs. "What the hell?"

Matt frowns in mock annoyance and shrugs. "It wasn't important."

"But you're not curious?"

He can't come up with a response, but he can feel a smugness rolling from Frank at his silence. "Shut up." Frank laughs again, this time a bit louder and it causes Leslie to stir. Matt takes a step forward to help, but he stops when she does. "You never answered my question," he reminds bitterly. "Why are you here?"

Frank waves a hand dismissively. "I was in the area," he explains. "I wanted to see how my favorite goody two shoes was doing. I'm going to leave soon. I just needed a nap."

"So you nap in my house?"

"I was in the area." Matt frowns and Frank laughs again. "No bull shit, though. I'll leave after my nap."

"You haven't napped yet?"

"I was making sure the pipsqueak was asleep. She takes a bit and she's on and off. I think she's out for good now, so I can sleep."

Matt almost kicks him out, but realizes his actions may disturb Leslie. He almost wonders if Frank framed it this way so he couldn't kick him out. He sighs heavily in defeat and turns toward his door. "Don't stay too long," he relents sourly. "I left my cane downstairs. I'll be back."

"Take your time, Red," Frank calls quietly, shifting lower in his seat to make himself comfortable. "I'm not going anywhere."

So I know I'm awful or whatever, but here. I found a bit of motivation for this filler bit and to tell you that I might be working on this a bit more maybe. I am in college now (sobs) but I'm going to try to see if I have the motivation to continue this work at all. Anime has taken over my life yet again, but I still know where I wanna take this. If need be, I can make a few really long chapters to get to where I wanna go and wrap it up that way. Or I can go back to infrequent updates followed by shitty little bits. I guess we'll see as time goes on, but I am leaning to wrapping it up with uber long chaps that I can actually edit as much as I want and what not. I'll keep you posted as I know.

Thanks for whomever is still waiting, reading, following, commenting, or whatever you're doing. You brought me back and got me thinking again.

Keep it up you guys. Ya'll rock!