'What kind of fucking sucker am I?' Frank shook his head as he parked his truck. His eyes rested on the panting, slobbering ball of energy, scratching and swiping at the window. "Relax alright?" He scratched behind the ears of the former Irish fight dog, who yelped and barked in response. Bucking it's big square head to meet Frank's hand, nipping slightly at his fingers. "Come on, lets go inside before I change my mind." He was trying to play hard to get with the pitbull, but his face betrayed him, Frank Castle was smiling. He had just shot up the kitchen Irish, blown holes clear through all but one sleaze stuffed meat bag, with no effort, no guilt, nearly no thought at all, he was running on caffeine and instinct. That same instinct wouldn't allow him to leave this poor pit among the bodies and broken glass.
He was going to take it somewhere, a safe place, a place where someone would take care of it, away from the lowlives assholes and criminals of the city. As he drove street after street, wasting precious time he realized that place didn't exist not for strays like them. The city was poisonous, there was no sanctuary to be found. He had pulled up to a dog shelter, the obvious option but he knew if he left the dog there it'd be put down in a day or so. He circled the building two or three times 'Never did nothing wasn't told to do . . . just follwin commands. Not your fault you look the way you do, you snarl, you bite, just the way you are, the way they made you' He had driven away away from the shelter. Frank had no choice he had to keep the dog.
His complex had a no pet policy, but stronger than that was the don't ask don't tell policy shared amongst the tenants. They all had nowhere else to go, they all had skeletons in their closets and were more than happy to keep their heads down if you were willing to do the same. 'paper thin walls.' Cordelia's voice harped in his ears as he walked the dog through the dank hallways. "Gotta keep your voice down alright bud?" He warned his new companion as his apartment door came into view. The dog seemed to understand and almost out of rebellion it began to bark. "Shhhh" Frank placed a hand over the dog's muzzle, but it was too late.
"A dog?" Dahlia had been dragging her feet getting ready for bed but the sound of an animal sparked a fire in her. Shoes were jammed onto her feet as she whipped open the door. "A dog!" She ran full tilt towards the beast.
"Dahly!" Cordelia groaned as she chased after the child. Frank watched it all play out in slow motion. He could feel the dog pull against it's chain with all the force it could muster, it would dislocate the shoulder of a less sturdy man, instead Frank just adjusted his footing, holding the dog in place.
"Hey! Hold it!" Frank boomed, commanding the attention of every beating heart in the hallway, time froze, every muscle stilled, well nearly every muscle. Dahlia stopped dead in her tracks a spooked look on her face as she stared up at the wall of a man scolding her. The dog relented, bowing it's head to the floor, waiting for Frank's death grip to lessen in the slightest. Frank stood broad and commanding, the shadows of his face looming over them, daring someone to move. Someone did move though, Dahlia disappeared from view a hand was placed on her shoulders and someone nudged past her, blocking her, shielding her.
'Here it comes.' While her face didn't flinch, inside to her very core Cordelia tensed waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was bound to happen, her cosmic pull had just been delayed this time. They had flown under this gun toting sadist's radar for this long but now they were square in his line of fire. 'Walked right into this one.' She studied his clenched, dark features looking for a tell, trying to predict his next move. While she couldn't see it she could sense it, blood and gunpowder, he could clean himself but the presence of death lingered on him, wafted around his very aura. Her eyes dropped to his free hand, his index finger was twitching in rhythmic spurts. 'He's going to kill me right here?' She prepared to push Dahlia out of the way, to sprint till a bullet connected. "Listen we didn't-" She slowly gestured Dahlia further behind her.
"Ain't too friendly." Frank's vice like jaw gave way just enough to grumble out that sentence.
"The dog or you?" Cordelia accused half jokingly, trying to ease the tension as well as her nerves.
"Yeah Yeah I get that." Frank's scowl cracked into a grin and a chuckle. He looked down at the floor after being put in his place then back up at Cordelia.
It made sense now, how he hadn't noticed her in his peripheral before. Cordelia was remarkably unremarkable, a busy young woman on the go she could effortlessly blend into any landscape. It took him staring her down like this to notice what made her even slightly discernible. First being her eyes, a grayish green hue encased by sleepless dark circles, peaking past thick copper bangs. They somehow pooled with six or seven conflicting emotions all at once, determination, desperation, fear and resilience, hope and despair. They reminded Frank of those tacky lava lamps, that you can't help but watch ebb and flow. 'If she thinks any deeper she'll fall right in that rabbit hole.' Why was she thinking so hard? Why was she aiming those emerald daggers at him? Why was that so unnerving? Frank's face reverted back to it's normal half grimace. He was never really a fan of why questions, who what where and when were much more his pay grade.
The second notable tidbit Frank stored away about Cordelia was where she chose to stand. Since he had begun his bloody revenge tour he had stared more than a handful of men square in the face before laying them out. Not a single one of them in their last moments tried to save anyone but themselves. In contrast here stood an unarmed woman simply going about her business willing to use herself as a human shield against what he knew her to assume was a blood thirsty murder. 'Willing to die for that little girl.'
His gaze drifted to the tiny person frozen behind Cordelia and made another not so remarkable observation. 'They ain't blood.' He watch as the child figited in her statue pose. Dahlia had jet black hair tied into two long braids, framing her gold toned face, her dark doe eyes locked puzzled with Frank's, they weren't conflicted liked Cordelia's they were simple and honest and holding onto what Frank could assume was the last bits of untainted humanity in all of New York.
'It's back.' Cordelia could finally let out a breath of relief as she saw that apathy and this time a more even dose of that unmarked feeling smooth out the hard lines of Frank's face. They were safe again, he was ambivalent again. Her grip laxed on Dahlia's shoulder, and the curious child mistakenly took that as a cue to speak.
"What's your dogs name?" The standoff had been completely lost on the innocent minded child, whose focus had never truly wavered from the canine.
"Dahlia what did I say about talking to-"
"He's not a stranger . . . that's our neighbor Mr. Frank DUH." Dahlia could not believe that Cordelia had quickly forgotten their interaction little over a week ago.
"Right of course." Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"Kids get smart under your nose." Frank chuckled.
'Kids. . . he's got kids.' Scanning over the man in black, he didn't exactly exude many fatherly features. He seemed on edge waiting for a fight, not to take a kid to soccer practice. 'Lisa, Frank, Maria.' Cordelia remembered the names he had shouted into the wall. 'Are those his kids? Where are they? They don't live here. Paper thin walls.' She decided not to pry, instead just nodding. "Yup."
He caught her questioning gaze, he had done it again, he had allowed her to sneak under his defenses, learn more about him. He needed to turn the tables. "So you work at the quick stop?" He grabbed at the only other obvious piece of information he could gather about her, it was written right on her shirt.
"Huh? Oh yeah, cheapest burnt coffee and stale hotdogs in the area, you're missing out." She assumed he had never been into the dingy little convenience store she worked at, she would have remembered tall dark and brooding trying to squeeze his broad shoulders into the tiny corner store.
"That's in a bad part of town."
"Opposed to the good part?"Cordelia looked from left to right as she shrugged and they both shared a half hearted laugh. Awkwardly dancing around small talk they almost didn't notice Dahlia on the move. Almost, nothing got by Frank's sniper senses for longer than a half a second.
"Look here alright?" Frank bent down to his knees, getting to eye level with Dahlia. She couldn't even see him, to Dahlia Frank and Cordelia were all but invisible, it was just her and this oh so petable dog, wounds and all. Frank again placed his hand over the dogs muzzle. He knew those eyes all to well, the determined will of a child was nothing to take lightly. None of them were leaving till her pet quota was reached. "Real slow and real gentle." Providing an example he slowly ran his palm over the dogs head far away from it's fight prepped jaw. "Ok?"
"Yes! yes! yes!" Dahlia was hopping in place as she nodded vigorously.
"Slow and gentle." Frank repeated as he tightened his grip on the chain, waiting to pull back if something went wrong, hoping that any of that had sunk in with the over eager child.
"Slow and gentle." One couldn't be sure if Dahlia's hand was actually making contact with fur as she dutifully mimicked Frank's action. "Good doggy, Good Doggy." The energy radiating from Dahlia's smile could light a whole city block.
Frank slowly took his hand away from the dogs snout, and rose back up to his feet. Giggling and heavy panting were the only sound as Cordelia and Frank watched Dahlia's dreams become reality. "Dilly he . . . " Dahlia could not control her laughter. "He's licking my face." Dahlia had gone from air petting to out right hugging and nuzzling the fearsome cage fighter.
"I can see that." Cordelia's face soured but it didn't last, Dahlia's laughter was infectious. "I'll go get the wet naps." Cordelia turned to her still open apartment door and grabbed some wipes off the counter before returning.
"I hope you know what you've done." Cordelia stated flatly. "I told you not to do anything rash and you-"
"Huh?" Frank hadn't been listening, he had been allowing this one warm and fuzzy moment pierce his inner armor. It brought back memories and for once in what seemed like an eternity they weren't pain ridden and gore saturated, they were good memories of a time before everything went to shit.
"Don't huh me. They're best friends now. Dahlia and . . . your miniature horse."
"It's a dog Dilly." Dahlia stated the obvious again, still engrossed with petting every inch of the pooch.
"Not a dog person mam?" Frank snickered at Cordelia's mild unease.
"I . . . not particularly." She shook her head. 'This isn't a dog it's a hellhound.'
"I know the place says no pets but I-"
"I'm no snitch Mr. Frank. Dahlia here is head over heels, I wouldn't break up this love connection. Get used to having a pint sized stalker though, she'll be on you two like white on rice."
Again Frank Castle read between the lines. 'You're a dangerous man and I know that, but Dahlia doesn't, and you slipped up. She wants to pet your dog from now until eternity so you will have to be on your best most child friendly behavior when she is around.' And again her demands seemed reasonable. "Gotcha." His response was the same as before.
"Come on it's time for bed Dahly and I'm sure Mr. Frank has to . . ." Cordelia trailed off, she had no idea what this walking shadow did to pass the time.
"Get back to work." Frank tucked away this brief pleasant moment under layers of war waged muscles, scar tissue and guilt. He still had the warehouse to take down, and that one Irish to pluck out of whatever sewer the vermin was hiding in. He had much to do before the sun came up, many more targets to cross off his list.
"Right." Again Cordelia chose not to pry. She didn't want to know about Frank's work just as much he was making clear from his dark glazed over stare he didn't want to discuss it.
"Fiinnne! Ok!" Dahlia gave one last full body hug to the dog before standing, letting out a yawn as she waved a big goodbye. "Goodnight Doggy. Goodnight Mr. Frank." Dahlia was not intimidated by Frank Castle, not scared. The junkies down the hall scared her, the old couple that yelled at her for using sidewalk chalk on the walls of the building living on the first floor intimidated her. This quiet man with big ears who let her pet his dog, he was possibly the best neighbor they'd ever had.
"Night kid." Frank gave a far less enthusiastic wave back. "Night . . ." He paused, tilting his head and squinting for a moment. "Cordelia." He read the off kilter name tag tacked to her shirt. "Oh I'm sorry, we ain't tight like that . . . Miss Cordelia." He smirked as he gave her a casual salute goodbye.
Cordelia rolled her eyes at his obvious mockery of her. If she hadn't moments ago been half past certain he planned to fill her full of lead Cordelia probably would have found Frank attractive. He wasn't exactly her type, too clean cut in contrast to men she had previously pursued, but classically good looking in his own right. Polite and even appeared to have a sense of humor. Though that one hang up was a bit too jarring to over look. 'It's true what they say . . . the better looking, the more batshit they are.' Cordelia nodded goodbye to Frank before ushering a less than willing Dahlia back into their apartment.
After getting Dahlia to bed and a moment of contemplation Cordelia pounded a fist against her wall. "Hey Frank." She paused but got no response. "Be . . . you know safe out there . . . If you get hurt at work, I'll have to take in that horse." Still no response. She sighed falling deep into her lumpy couch. 'Can't pretend he doesn't exist anymore. He knows our names.' For some reason that made their casual acquaintance status more real. 'Just gotta make sure he doesn't completely lose it and shoot up the building. There's no room for a dog here.' She assessed her already cramped and crumbling apartment as she pretended not wanting a pet was the sole reason she didn't want Frank to flatline in the streets. Truth be told he was growing on her, as much as a nearly mute psychopath could.
"Don't waste your time worrying about me mam." Frank had been listening and after fully chewing over and digesting her words he finally responded. " I ain't looking for a babysitter." It was his turn to keep his neighbor at bay. 'I ain't lookin to play it safe. I ain't looking to last much longer." He found a place to attach the dog's chain, packed more weapons and ammo and made his way to the door. 'Don't have no use.' He was referring to creating any new attatchments. His life was over when his family died, time stopped, there was nothing new for Frank, just unfinished business he needed to take care of before he joined them.
He stormed out into the night angry with the fact that he knew he was wrong. There WAS something new, tucked far away and deep inside so as not to get in the way of his mission, but that little happy moment was still there, was now a part of him. These two girls were sticking to his subconscious like bubble gum to the bottom of a shoe. 'Don't need any of them getting in my way, slowin me down.' The dog, the kid, the girl, a dead man can't be expected to carry all that dead weight. "Fuckin Sucker!" He grumbled under his breath slamming a fist into his steering wheel.
A/N: Firstly I know that I placed this story under The Punisher but am starting in Daredevil season two, but it made sense to me and I'll get there eventually I promise. Secondly upon rewatching everything to make sure I'm staying at least vaguely close to the story I realized how quickly everything happens, no rest for the wicked I suppose, but for the purpose of my story I may (will) be spacing out the timeline a bit, sorry if that ruins everything but Rome wasn't built in 13 episodes. Thanks for reading and happy holidays.