Disclaimer: I do not own Daredevil, Arrow or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Warning- Sensitive content in this chapter. Sincere apologies to anyone who might get offended.
Chapter 10- I'll be there
A street gang was driving around a small run-down neighborhood in New York. Their leader, Goldtooth was not in a sensible mood that day. Not that he did anything good when he was sensible. But when he wasn't in a sensible mood, he would do very horrible things to any random person he saw.
And then his lusty eyes caught three unfortunate victims. Prostitutes. All of them. Wearing skimpy outfits. Easy prey for him and his men.
He was especially attracted to the dark-skinned one.
"There", he said to his men, "I'll talk to that bitch."
His men stopped the car near the three.
The dark-skinned woman realized he was coming towards her and started taking backward steps.
"Where are you running?" he asked angrily, "Why do you flee?"
"Leave me alone!" she said in a terrified tone, her two friends equally terrified.
"You don't run from me!" he said angrily as he grabbed her and roughly slammed her into the wall, making her bleed and cry out in pain.
He then grabbed her by the hair and said, "You're going to give me the time of my life, bitch!"
To his men, he said, "Do what you want with the other two!"
His men then started grabbing the other two women.
That moment, a man walked out of the nearby liquor store.
He had a paper bag in his hand, something inside it. He let the bag fall down, revealing the thing inside to be a bottle of Jack Daniel's.
He walked towards the gang, who did not notice him as they were roughing up the prostitutes. The man walked up behind one of the thugs and hit him hard on the head with the bottle, killing him and splattering blood.
That moment, the other thugs noticed him. One of them tried to attack but he hit him on the face with the bottle very hard, making him spit out a huge wad of blood as he fell down, dead. A third thug turned to him but he brought the bottle down on his head very hard, putting him down as blood splattered. He hit him again with the bottle, this time on the neck, killing him.
Another tried to attack the man but he smashed his jaw with the bottle, killing him and splattering blood. Another thug brandished a knife to attack.
The man dodged his attack and grabbed his knife hand before hitting it hard with the bottle, making him scream in agony. Another thug moved to attack but he moved the thug's knife hand, making his knife go into the other thug's throat, killing him and splattering blood.
He then retracted the knife and sliced the throat of the thug he had restrained, killing him too. Another thug brandished a gun and fired but he dodged. He then grabbed his gun hand and made him fire at another thug. The bullet hit his head and he died as blood splattered on the nearby wall.
The man then hit the thug he had restrained with the bottle on the hand, breaking it before making him shoot himself in the head. The three prostitutes crawled away.
Goldtooth glared at him with in anger. He took out his gun but before he could even aim it, the man threw the bottle on him. It hit him hard on the head, making him stagger towards the wall. He tried to fire but missed. The man grabbed his arm and twisted it violently, dislocating his shoulder as he screamed in agony.
The man then stomped on his foot, making him yell more. He then threw him down and smashed his kneecap with his foot, making him yell even louder.
"Fuck you! Fuck you!" he cursed the man, in spite of the pain and terror he was feeling.
The man picked up the fallen bottle and asked Goldtooth, "You know the difference between justice and punishment?"
"What?" Goldtooth asked in confusion.
The man then undid the zipper of his jacket, revealing a vest with the symbol of a skull on it. Goldtooth was horrified on seeing the skull.
The man then undid the bottle and poured the alcohol all over Goldtooth who yelled for help in agony.
The man then took out a lighter as Goldtooth cursed again, "Fuck you!"
Instead of throwing it on him, the man put the lighter down at a distance from him and gave him a death glare, making him feel the same way the prostitutes did a while ago.
He then looked at the three prostitutes. Then he got up, turned around and walked away.
The three prostitutes then stood over him. The one he had battered was on the verge of angry tears.
"I'm sorry", he begged in a feeble voice, "I'm sorry."
The prostitute picked up the lighter. He feebly tried to beg for his life.
She threw the lighter on him as he yelled, "NOOOOO!"
He then screamed as he was burnt alive while the man walked away, no expression on his face.
He then walked towards the docks and stood there, the presence of water helping him relax. That moment, he saw a figure floating in it.
Alarmed, he jumped into the water and swam towards the unconscious person who was floating in the water.
He grabbed him and swam out, helping the person to keep his head above the water. He then put him down on the ground and then saw who he was.
"Red?!" he said in shock, "Red?! What the hell happened to you?"
He then pressed Matt's chest many times, until he finally spit out the water in his lungs.
"Red!" he said, "You okay?"
"Huh, huh", Matt panted a little before realizing who his rescuer was, "Frank?!"
"Yeah, Red, it's me", Frank Castle said, "What the hell were you doing in the water? I heard your house was bombed and that you were missing."
He gave Matt a hand, who took it gratefully. Frank then helped him up and let him put his arm around him for support.
"It's a long story", Matt said as Frank supported him to the road.
"I got all the time in the world", Frank said,
"What were you doing around here though?" Matt asked.
"Doing my laundry", Frank said, deciding not to tell Matt about what he had just done on the nearby street. Though he wasn't lying as he had been doing his laundry on the street before going to the liquor shop.
"Well", Matt said as he panted more, "You remember when we went on that other Earth?"
"Yeah", Frank said.
"Well", Matt said, "That man- Adrian Chase, he is here on this Earth."
"What the hell?" Frank said angrily, "First, Fisk gets released and now, that child-kidnapping bastard Chase is here?"
"Oh, speaking of Fisk", Matt said, "Chase and Fisk are working together."
"What the fuck is going on?" Frank muttered in anger and confusion.
"I have no idea", Matt said.
"So what happened?" Frank asked as he helped Matt sit on a bench before sitting next to him.
"Well", Matt said, "Chase bombed my house and left me for dead. I was brought to the Church where I grew up. There, the nuns healed me. Then, I heard about Fisk being released so I went to the prison to investigate. And I discovered Chase was working with him."
"Oh boy!" Frank said, "Shit keeps getting worse and worse. And the FBI is eating from Fisk's hand, I think."
"They are", Matt confirmed.
"First S.H.I.E.L.D., then Homeland Security, now the F.B.I.", Frank muttered, "I guess the C.I.A. would be the next one with a deep-rooted scandal."
"I guess so", Matt said.
"Where're you gonna go?" Frank asked.
"To my home, to recover", Matt said, "Then I will think of something to do."
"You can barely walk", Frank said, "Let me help you."
In spite of Matt's protests, Frank supported him back till his own apartment.
Frank then opened the door for him and the two walked inside.
"So", Matt asked, "What're you doing these days?"
"Well", Frank said, "I tried to build a peaceful life for myself. But I just can't. If I see crime, I have to fight it and kill the bastards."
"Same here", Matt said, "Except I don't kill."
Matt then took off his coat, tie, shirt and shoes as Frank took out a bottle of wine from his refrigerator. Matt was about to fall on the ground but Frank supported him till his bed where Matt then lay.
"Take rest, Red", Frank said as he walked out while drinking the wine, "If something happens, I'll wake you."
Matt's eyes then closed.
Matt felt someone shaking him up.
"Red!" Frank said, "Wake up! The FBI are on their way."
That moment, Matt jumped off the bed.
"What?" he asked.
"The FBI are coming". Frank said again.
Matt then put on a tracksuit with a hood on top.
"Breach!" someone said before the door was broken. Matt and Frank ran off and climbed out of the window before hiding on its side.
"Murdock's been home", someone said as he investigated, "Recently."
"Suspect's not here", one said, "NYPD has been advised. Citywide BOLO. Suspect Matthew Murdock to be considered armed and dangerous."
Matt and Frank both looked puzzled at that.
Later, when the FBI were away, the two went back inside.
"Why are you a suspect?" Frank asked.
"No idea", Matt said, "Fisk must have found out I escaped the taxi and sent them after me for some fake crime."
"Him and Chase", Frank said, "Deadly combination."
"I know", Matt said, "They're always ten steps ahead."
Matt then said, "I think you should go, for now."
"What?" Frank asked.
"You're trying to build a peaceful life", Matt said, "Combating threats from the shadows. If you're seen with me, it will be problematic for you."
"When has it not been problematic for me?" Frank said.
"Fair point", Matt said, "But it might get problematic for me. Me with the Punisher, not something they'll like."
"I guess so", Frank said, "Keep Karen safe. If anything happens to her, I'll kill you first."
"I will", Matt said as he held out his hand, "Thank you, Frank."
Frank shook his hand and said, "If you need me, call. I'll be there."
Frank then walked away as Matt considered his next move.
So Frank is here too. This wasn't his last appearance. But I don't think he will serve any purpose for some time so I sent him off. But he'll be back later, punishing and all.
We've had two chapters without Matt so one chapter without Oliver, Slade and Roy works. Next chapter, we get to the good stuff.
The sequence from the beginning was taken from the short film- 'The Punisher: Dirty Laundry', starring Thomas Jane as Punisher. Hope you liked it.
Please review. I always appreciate your feedback.