Hey everyone! I'd like to preface this with an admission that the last time I watched Punisher S2 was when it came out, so there are gonna be some plot details here that are obviously wrong or off, please forgive them and enjoy

I had found an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town a few months ago. It had everything I needed to practice, so I converted a room into my practice space, cleaning it up and installing a few mirrors.

I was a dancer, and most rehearsal spaces cost more money than I wanted to spend, so this was perfect for me. For a time anyway.

There was a bus that dropped me just 10 minutes from it and picked me up right outside my apartment. It was a long bus ride, 45 minutes, but I never minded, I just put in my headphones and had fun with my music. I headed straight to the back of the bus as per usual and relaxed.

A group of guys got on a few stops later and headed straight for the back. There were probably 7 or 8 of them, enough to fill the seats next to and in front of me. I pulled my bag closer and did my best to ignore them. It was hard to, they were loud, but I turned up the volume on my music and looked out the window.

The guy sitting right next to me caught my eye in his reflection. He was hiding under a hood, but his big expressive eyes pierced out through it, and even with the dirt in the window obscuring the reflection it was easy to see the sharp bone structure. It was also hard to miss the scars surrounding his features, which did little to hide how beautiful his face was, simply adding complexity to it.

That wasn't all I noticed about the men around me though. I had a tendency to move and mouth along to my music, to the point where it was something I did subconsciously at times, and it was hard not to notice them looking over me and the way my body moved.

I rolled my eyes, and looked back out the window.

When we got to the stop before mine I hopped up, sliding out around the man beside me quickly and ringing the bell as soon as we were past it, holding on to the pole by the door. When the bus stopped and the doors opened I jumped out, kicking my heel up with the music, and spent ten minutes walking in blissful peace to the warehouse, dancing the whole way.

That stopped real quick.

The once-empty main area now sported couches, a wall of masks, and guns, both on racks and strewn about on a few otherwise paper-cluttered surfaces.

I paused my music and slowly took out my headphones, taking it all in. Behind me I heard footsteps, and closed my eyes, turning around before I opened them back up to see the men from the bus.

"Fuck."

"What are you doing here?" One of them demanded.

"Would you believe dance practice?" I held my hands up in a shrug. They pulled guns on me. "Shit!" I raised my hands higher in surrender.

"I'll ask again missy. What are you doing here?"

"Okay I know I sound like a smartass, but I was being serious, I practice here. I made a studio space upstairs." I pointed up with one of my surrendering hands.

"Show us." The scarred man said, making me notice he was the only one who hadn't raised a gun.

"I'd rather not?" I tried.

"Show us the damn room." One of the others insisted, and I slowly turned my back to them, hands still raised, and led them upstairs, grateful I had put a curtain halfway into the room to hide what was on the other half. That was the last thing I needed right now.

They looked around a little, mostly keeping their guns on me.

"Doesn't look much like a dance studio." One of them said.

"Well it wasn't one until I found it. I just use the mirrors and the table for my stereo." I used my shoulder to nudge the bag resting on it, which contained my stereo, a fact checked by one of them after he yanked the bag off of my arm.

I rubbed my shoulder and looked around at all of them.

"Dance for us." One of them insisted.

I flinched a little. "I'd rather not."

"Excuse me?" He got up in my face, and I stepped back quickly, backed against a wall. "You want to prove you're a dancer so we don't fucking kill you? Dance."

"I would really, really rather not -" As I spoke the curtain was pulled back, revealing the floor-to-ceiling poles I practiced on. I closed my eyes and sighed.

I was tossed towards them, and stumbled a little. "Get to it!"

I stood still for a moment, looking over all of them, and noticed that this entire time the scarred man hadn't been moving, watching from a leaned place in the back corner.

"You're the leader here, yeah?" I guessed, receiving a nod from him. "Tell the rest of them to get out. I'll perform for you alone."

He stared into my eyes for a moment, making me start to shrink back, before he spoke. "Everyone out. If she's lying, she'll be dead before you can come back in."

They all kind of grumbled, but they left, and I turned my back to them to get my stereo set up and my heels on. The scarred man was silent, but he grabbed a chair from the side and pulled it right in front of the poles, front and centre audience.

I threw my long hoodie to the side revealing my sports bra and low-cut shorts, not as revealing as my usual work outfits, but in a situation like this uncomfortable all the same.

I was running through everything that could go wrong in my head right up to the moment I got in position. The song started, and I let it all fade away.

I was always more of an acrobat on the pole than a floor dancer, and today I clung to the pole like a lifeline, pouring all of my energy into flipping and spinning around it.

The times I made eye contact with the scarred man, he was watching intently, but I didn't see the desire I usually did in my audiences, a fact I pushed as far aside as I could so it couldn't throw me off.

The song ended, leaving me slowly turning around the pole upside down, and I hopped off and paused the playlist before the next song could start.

"You're safe." The scarred man said behind me, making me turn quickly. He was walking towards me now, leaning on the wall next to my stereo. "As long as you don't go to the cops, and you don't tell anyone about us being here."

"Deal, I don't have a death wish. Can I keep practicing here?"

"Sure. Make sure no one is following you when you come in, and while you're here avoid using anything that could track your location, phone apps or anything."

"Got you." I nodded. "Can you make sure no one comes in here?"

"No. More likely than not, you're going to be watched. Can you make yourself okay with that?"

"I'm watched every time I perform. I can deal with it. Reason I didn't want to here is because my life is on the line. I wasn't going to risk getting raped and murdered if I didn't have to." He nodded a little. "Can I get a guarantee on my bodily integrity at least?"

"If anyone rapes you, I'll let you run them through with a knife. Sound good?"

"Yeah I'll take that." I scrolled through my phone to find another song that I wanted to try and got back into position. "I'll let you get back to work. I'm sure you've got things to do."

"Not for now." He sat back down. "We just got back from something; we're here laying low."

"Right. Well, enjoy I guess." The song started and I was turning around the pole once more.

I kept practicing until my alarm went off to pack up, and I kicked off my heels, replacing them with boots and throwing my hoodie back on.

"You're leaving?"

"I have to go home and get supper. I'll probably be back Thursday." I packed everything into my bag. "See you around… dude." I shrugged.

I was nearly out the door when he spoke. "Billy."

I turned back to him. "Sorry?"

"Billy Russo. That's my name."

"Okay. See you around Billy." I waved a little, and left.

The other guys were all downstairs, and looked surprised to see me calmly walking out with my headphones in. I debated the safety of it, but couldn't resist and flipped them all a middle finger as I walked by, smiling a little as I slipped out the door.