To Live Again
Chapter 8: The Price of Hate
Frank blinked awake to a face he hated to see. Billy was sitting in front of him, fancy suit unruffled, hair quaffed back like the pompous asshole he was. Frank wanted to murder this traitor here and now. Instead he looked around and saw a girl he didn't know sitting down by the computers, the countdown starting. Frank had hated Lieberman's stupid fail-safe system but he was grateful for it now.
"Welcome back. Nice place you got here."
"It looks better since I decorated it with your guys," Frank retorted.
Well, there are always more people to buy. Mmm. Somebody always wants to get paid."
Frank scoffed. "I guess you'd be the expert on that, wouldn't you, Bill?"
Billy got up and popped in a chewing gum. "All those poor bastards that we strung up back in the day... You know, I never really thought to myself... 'But for the Grace of God go I.' Well... you, in this case."
"Ticktock, Bill, huh? Ticktock." Frank said, looking pointedly at the countdown on the computers.
"What was Homeland doing there?
"I don't know. Nothing to do with me," Frank lied.
"Hmm. Am I supposed to believe that?"
"I don't give a shit what you believe. I don't know. Maybe it's Lieberman... Maybe he set it up behind my back. Why don't you go ask him? Okay? What do you think, Billy? You think I wanted you and Rawlins under arrest, huh Locked up? Nah. No way. I'm gonna kill you, Bill. I'm gonna watch you die."
Billy took a step back and chuckled. "Oh, man. You are a trip. You know that? You really think that, huh? You still think that you get to kill us? That you get to win? You don't get to win, Frank. It's over. You have one choice left, and that's how to die. That's all I can give you, man. Now, I kept my end of the deal. Lieberman's wife and kid are free."
"Where is he?" Frank asked, trying not to sound smug about it.
"Tell me how to get into those computers, Frank. I'll make this easy for you," Billy promised.
"Ask Lieberman," Frank shrugged.
"Unfortunately, your geek friend is no longer with us."
"You killed him?" Frank asked, this time he was worried, because he almost expected Billy to say yes, David had been shot in the head by one of his men, and not on his bullet proof vest like they'd planned.
"Homeland got sloppy. Put three bullets in him. Yeah. Shitty news for both of us. So now, this whole situation... becomes unavoidable."
Frank was relieved David was fine, but Billy's voice was grating on his nerves.
"How 'bout my wife and kids? Huh? Was that unavoidable? Did you do it, Bill? Did you pull the trigger on my wife? On my son? My baby girl?"
"All right," Billy said, leaning in front of him. "No. No, I wasn't there. If I was, you'd be in the ground, because I wouldn't have missed. But I told them I'd have no part of it.
"But you knew about it, didn't you? Did you know about it, Bill?"
"Yeah. I knew," he admitted, a glimmer of regret flashing across his eyes, and Frank closed his eyes as he cried.
"She loved you," Frank hissed.
"Look, it wasn't supposed to go down like this, all right?"
"My kids loved you," Frank continued, leaning forward.
"If I could go back and change it, I would. But I can't."
Frank closed his eyes. He felt like death warming over. He wasn't one to run, but he was tired, and in these moments, he wanted nothing more than to disappear.
"Frank... Frank, look at me. Look at me, Frank. I did not want this.
"I'm gonna kill you," Frank promised.
"No. No, you're not."
"All that's left is to decide how she dies."
Frank's eyes shot up at that. He turned in horror to see Rawlins dragging in Gwen by her hair, needle in his hand, and yet her eyes were wide open. Frank jerked in his chair, cursing at the restraints.
"You let her go Billy. She's just a kid," he hissed.
"An enhanced kid who got in my way," Billy corrected. "So you tell me what happens when those counters hit zero, or she goes. Do you want to test and see if a bullet can pierce her skin from point blank? So you going to tell me Frank?"
"What did you do to her?" Frank growled.
"A paralytic agent," Rawlins said, throwing her to the ground. "She's wide awake, but unable to move. Looks like we'll be needed to administer it every five minutes. She burns through it quickly."
"Hey, you let the kid go ok. This is between us. She doesn't need to be involved," Frank growled. "You trust this piece of shit, Bill? How about Morty Bennett? You think Morty Bennett trusted him?"
"Billy and I have mutual interests, Frank. What benefits him benefits me," Rawlins said, putting on his gloves.
"Yeah, and how about when it doesn't, asshole? What happens then? Your stupid-ass gloves. You... Are those the same ones, or did you get yourself a new pair?" Frank asked, preparing himself.
"These are special. Just for you."
"You gonna do something with them?" Frank goaded.
Frank felt a sharp blow against his face, and it hit again and again. He spat put blood.
"You hit like a bitch, Rawlins. You hit like a bitch."
"Let's hear the kid's opinion on that."
Frank cursed as Rawlins picked up Gwen by her hair, her body dangling like a toy against him. He punched her on the face and Frank screamed and twisted in his chair. The girl didn't so much as flinch, but Frank didn't know if that was from the paralytic in her veins, or because she wasn't scared. She looked him in the eye for a moment, none of the panic he expected, and he got his answer.
Rawlins continued his assault on her, punching her chest next. Gwen let out a pained grunt before she spat her blood into his eyes. She had the gall to chuckle in this situation, and Frank didn't know if she was insane or brave. Maybe both.
"P-pathetic," she slurred.
Rawlins, none too gently stabbed her with a needle, injected the mixture in again and then hit her across the head. Gwen slammed to the ground in an awkward angle and Frank grit his jaw together in rage. Rawlins began kicking her again and again and Frank felt each and every one of those blows himself.
"You sick fucker. Let her go!" Frank cursed.
Rawlins grabbed her again but sighed as he realised, he had knocked her out. He threw her to the ground and cracked his knuckles.
"It's fun watching you scream, Castle. We'll play with her when she wakes up. It's your turn now."
Frank was just glad he'd stopped hitting Gwen. Once he was out of these bindings, he would make Rawlins die a painful death.
David had his family back. He had them back and he didn't know what to do. He stood in front of them. A dead man walking and all the speeches he'd ever prepared didn't make it past his lips.
"I mean, I can explain it...I can explain it all. You know, in my head that... It was all... There was a reason for everything, and one thing led to another thing... that led to this idea, that led to this action, that... It was... It was never like, um..." David struggled to get out before he sighed deeply and pushed back his hair. "I was just, uh, reacting, you know? Trying to survive. Trying to get back home. Trying to win. I know that doesn't make up for..."
And Sarah trails a hand through his hair and David sinks into the touch. Starved for it. Wishing it would never end.
"I am so sorry. I've been in my bathrobe in a basement for a year."
Sarah laughs, a mixture between amused and sad. "You look like it."
He settles into her presence, feeling utterly lost.
"Where is Frank?" Sarah asked.
"Where is he? Um, he's where he wants to be."
"What does that mean?"
"I let him do something really stupid. I gave him my word I'd let him sacrifice himself for us. Gwe— the kid, she wasn't meant to be a part... fuck Sarah what if I got her killed."
"David," Sarah said, shushing him and calming him down. "This is Frank Castle we're talking about. He won't let anything happen to her."
"All he wants is the chance to kill them."
"I hope he does it. Those men? They deserve to go to hell, and I hope he sends them there," Sarah said unremorsefully.
David felt dread pool in his stomach as Madani walked into the room.
"More likely he's being tortured and or killed right now. And there's not a damn thing we can do about it because we don't have the first clue where they are. Right, Lieberman?" she asked pointedly.
"Wanna take this in a... in a different room?" David asked.
Madani grated her jaw together and stormed off. David sent his wife an apologetic look as he went after the Agent. Madani didn't waste time. She dropped the earpiece on her table.
"We found it in the van they used. Fake your death, take you and the kid out of the picture and then Castle leads us back to Rawlins and Russo. That was the plan. Now you're here and your family is alive, so please explain to me why Frank screwed me?"
David sighed. "You know I'd keep my mouth shut, cause I do owe him more than the world. But the kid got caught too and that wasn't part of the plan. I know where he's at. I need to access your computer."
Madani didn't look too happy but she nodded. David got onto the computer.
"Yeah, Frank didn't screw you, okay? Not completely. We just... We didn't tell you everything."
"You have my password?" Dinah asked.
"You're about to be really glad about that. You gotta understand Frank. The only thing he lives for is to kill these guys. So I promised I would give him that chance. I just... I didn't think the kid would get caught too. So, we set 'em up. The whole thing. We made sure there's only one place they could take us. But with me dead... Frank's their only option."
David pulled up the video surveillance at his base and felt himself loose his breath at what he saw. Gwen was tied to a post, face bloody, hoodie practically ripped off. Frank was in even worse shape, bleeding from head to toe, as Rawlin's continued his assault. Even Madani took in a breath besides him.
"Oh. Shit. Where is this?" Madani asked.
"Look at them. We gotta stop this," David said, tears prickling at his eyes.
"This is all recording?" Madani asked.
"Yeah. Frank figured that if he couldn't kill them, then at least you'd have enough evidence on Rawlins and Russo, all the evidence you'd ever need. Please, Dinah, we gotta go get him before it's too late."
David would never be able to live with himself if Frank or Gwen died.
Frank didn't care if he got beat up. Billy was right. He was a revenant. A dead man walking. But Gwen wasn't. She was just a kid. She had a whole life ahead of her. He couldn't take that away.
"Okay yeah," he said giving in. "It's over there. It's a retinal scanner and a keystroke."
Billy picked up his chair and took him to the computers.
"My... my eye, my right hand. It's gotta be you, Bill."
"What's happening?" Rawlins asked.
"He saw sense. Just so you know, we found the gun you had under there," Billy warned Frank.
Frank booted up the computer. Put in his fingerprint and scanned his eyes. The timer reset.
"That's it. It's done," Frank sighed.
"You know, I'm actually a little disappointed in you, Castle," Rawlins said, holding his shoulder.
Frank took out the knife hidden under the chair and stabbed Rawlins in the chest with it. The man screamed and Frank jerked him forward, biting his neck hard as they fell to the floor. Rawlins screams sounded too good to his ears. Before Frank could finish the job, Billy hit him in the back of the head with his gun.
Frank fell into a dream. His wife was there. He didn't want to wake up.
Billy was impressed by the sheer number of encrypted files on this system that Micro had set up. His hacker, one of the best, whistled in appreciation.
"This guy was good. We were never getting in here without the codes. The back-up systems and security are gnarly. I'd like to meet him."
"He's dead," Billy said dryly. "Same as you'll be if you ever discuss this with anyone."
"Can you destroy it all?"
"Already happening," she said typing away.
Billy left her to do her job to see something disgusting. Rawlins was enjoying this a little too much tormenting Frank. For all Billy would do to achieve his goals, he never had any real intention to torture or demean Frank. Years serving together meant he deserved respect in his final moments at least.
"This country needs me, Frank. I was the bulwark against our enemies. What I did was greater than you could ever measure! Do you know what you've done?" Rawlins asked angrily.
"Did they take your pension away?" Frank asked, only to get another punch to his sternum.
"You are nothing but a grunt! You do not get to take me down. You are gonna beg to me. Blood loss is gonna make you weak. You're gonna slip in and out of shock. You will know pain and fear. Fear, Frank. Your ribs must be cracked. I'm gonna take all the breath out of your lungs, until you can barely whisper and the last word out of your mouth is gonna be, 'Please... Please... Please...'"
Rawlins let go of Frank and kicked Gwen awake. She startled in her chains, eyes coming barely into focus after all the drugs she'd been under. Frank's struggles only made Rawlins enjoy hitting Gwen more.
"All right. That's enough," Billy said, pulling Rawlins away from the girl. "We wipe everything, and we're done. Then I put them down."
Billy cursed as Rawlins shoved him away, a crazy look in his one eye that still remained.
"No. He's taken things from me. For that he does not die easy," Rawlins said.
"Well, I made him a promise," Billy replied with a grunt.
"I don't care about your promise!" Rawlins hissed before going back to Frank and grabbing him by his ears. "You don't leave me, Frank. Don't you leave me. You will say please!"
Billy pulled Rawlins away from Frank. "This doesn't serve me."
"You serve me!" Rawlins shot back. You're a tool, you understand? Just like he was."
"You've lost your mind," Billy scoffed. "I was out of Afghanistan clean. None of this would be happening if you hadn't gone after him. You pulled me back into the mud."
"I pulled you out of the mud, gutter rat! Billy, don't get confused. Men like me make the plans. Men like you shed the blood. You think you're clean? Who killed Homeland agents, huh? Not me. No, I... I have everything. I have your doctored discharge papers, the money transfers. You're only as clean as I let you be, because when it's all said and done, you're just a stupid grunt, too."
Billy grit his jaw together. "I should've let him kill you in that tent."
Rawlins scoffed. "But you didn't."
"No. Hmm. I didn't," Billy agreed, walking behind Frank's bloodied form, and putting a gun to his head.
"No, Russo. I will burn you. You will stand down, Lieutenant. You will not deny me this," Rawlins cursed.
"You're a sick man," Billy said, cutting the rope at Castle's arm, before he stepped back.
"He owes me an eye," Rawlins said, pulling out a knife and taking it to Castle's face.
Before he could do anything, Rawlins felt a blow to his face that sent him flying into the wall with a loud crack. Gwen cracked her wrists and spat out some blood.
"You shitheads forgot about the little girl huh. Figures, bunch of sexist assholes," she joked.
Gwen was still shivering from the drugs still running in her system, but she had been silent, following her training, staying out of sight and out of the way until they forgot she was a threat. Murdock would have been proud.
She dodged the bullet meant for her head and slammed into Billy, elbowing his wrist, and making him drop the weapon. He twisted his legs around her waist, throwing her into a grapple, before he punched her in the face and scrambled towards his gun. Gwen didn't make it in time enough to dodge the bullet, and it hit her straight in the leg. She cursed as she dropped to the ground and Billy stumbled back.
Frank had finally had the chance to burst from his own bindings, grabbing Rawlins by the back of his shirt before he got the jump on Gwen. Frank didn't waste time smashing Rawlin's jaw of before he dug his thumbs into the man's eyes and ripped it out.
"God damn, Frankie. I love to watch you work," Billy said.
Frank turned to Billy. "I wish... I wish I could see your face..."
"What are you talking about?"
"When you realize..."
"Realize what, Frankie?"
"That you're done. You lost everything. Everything you give a shit about is gone," Frank hissed
"Gone," Billy scoffed throwing the gun. "This isn't my gun, Frank. I was never here."
Frank laughed, his breath coming out mixed with blood. He lay on the floor next to Rawlins and laughed as the sound of officers rung in the distance. Billy cursed.
"Homeland Security! Drop your weapons!"
"You sneaky son of a bitch," Billy hissed, moving to shoot Frank, when Gwen picked up the knife and threw it into his arm.
Billy cursed, jerking at his wound as he retreated. The sound of agents charging into the room made her panic. Gwen looked back and felt her heart stutter. No, she couldn't be found out. Not again. She stumbled up to Castle and held his hand, as he coughed up blood.
"Y-you'll be safe. They can't... they can't see my face," Gwen said, before getting into another coughing fit.
"G-go," Frank said, before he passed out on her.
Gwen grunted, ignoring the sheer pain she was in as she climbed up the wall and hid in the corner of the room. No one needed to see her face... well outside of the video she was obviously already in.
"Move, move, move!" Dinah ordered as she stormed into the place, guns out. "Fan out. I want a full perimeter. Lock this place down. Russo's injured but armed. Search every area."
Gwen's heart stammered when she looked at Castle. David was right by his side, holding him in his arms.
"Hey! Hey! Look at me. He's breathing!"
Dinah said her orders quickly. "Russo's injured but armed. Treat him with extreme caution."
"We got to get him out of here," Micro pleaded.
"I called an ambulance."
Gwen dropped not so gracefully from the ceiling, startling Madani.
"No ambulances. Are you crazy," she hissed before stumbling to the ground, a wave of dizziness hitting her. "You call a hospital and we're doomed. Come on Agent hottie, Frank risked his life for your proof. I got my ass beat. No cops."
Agent Madani nodded, putting away her gun as she turned to Frank. Gwen could survive. Rawlins had a real hate boner for Castle, so despite knowing it would have been quicker to get him to break by torturing her, he'd ignored her in favour of inflicting Castle pain. Gwen didn't know whether to be relieved or distraught by that information.
"My friend is dying... Come on, please, please. Please, please," Micro begged, as Frank stopped breathing for a moment. It took another few minutes before he spat back out blood and gasped for air.
"There you go. Yes! Yeah, that's right, you scary, beautiful man! That's right! Yeah. I got you. I got you," David repeated, as he gripped at Frank.
"We take them to my car. My dad's a doctor. Come on," Madani said, leaving no room for discussion.
Gwen wondered if now was a good time to pass out. She managed to stumble her way to Madani's car, despite her body feeling like a weighted rock. She dropped into the back of the car and coughed out some more blood.
"You alright Gwen?" David asked, checking her over after fastening Frank to the back.
"The CIA have terrible hospitality," Gwen groaned as she adjusted in her seat. "I ordered a glass of champagne with a little umbrella in it and got paralysis drugs instead."
Micro laughed, but it came out as the kind of laugh someone made when they were trying not to cry. Gwen wondered when someone would properly laugh at her jokes. She did put a lot of effort into them.
"Rawlins spent most of his time focusing on Frank. I'm fine... mostly. Been shot, but fast healing."
"You don't have to stay awake anymore. Go to sleep kid. I won't tell anyone about your identity," Dinah said.
"The video..."
"I'll take care of it," Dinah assured her. "Go to sleep. You'll need the energy."
Gwen closed her eyes and nodded. She hoped Frank wouldn't die. She didn't have her ass beat and drugged to all hell for no reason. That was the only reason she cared. The only reason…
Gwen had been trained to take torture before. It was done under the careful hand of Hand ninjas. They got handsy... and Gwen really needed to stop with the hand puns, but she couldn't get a handle on that either. Even in her dreams...
Matt had visited her after that session. She'd woken up screaming, in a blind panic, until he stroked her hair and pulled her out of it. It was one of the few times he took of those garish red glasses and looked (somewhat) into her eyes. He was still blind after all.
"I don't wanna do this anymore," she had said.
"I know," Matt said, shushing her gently. "Come on. Come on, back to me, right? Come back to me kiddo. That's right. Look me in the eye. It's over. You did good. You did good... I'm going to take you back home."
"To dad?" she remembered asking.
He froze. "No to my apartment. You know your father's in prison."
"Oh... oh."
Gwen began crying and Matt had pulled off her bindings, wiped away the blood on her face gently, picked her up in his arms and took her to his apartment. He put her down in the guest bed and tucked her in. Gwen held his arm, stopping him from leaving.
"Don't go," she had begged, holding his hand, because even if he was the one who got her in this situation in the first place, he was all she had, and she couldn't be alone. "Don't go."
Matt stroked her face, smiling a soft smile behind sharp teeth.
"Oh dear Gwennie. Don't you know I'm already gone."
Then abruptly Castle clocked his gun at Matt's head and pulled the trigger. Gwen screamed.
She shot up and struggled. Someone was holding her arms, telling her something, but she cried out for Matt. Where was Matt?
"Breathe. Breathe Gwen."
Gwen realised that she was, in fact, not breathing. She struggled to take in a deep breath and found herself gasping for air as a face blurred into her vision. It was Castle, his face splotched, purple, and yellow, lips swollen and torn to bits.
"That's right kid, breathe. Deep breaths. Just like that," he said walking her through the motion until, Gwen slumped back onto the pillow underneath her world a blur.
"Matt," she cried, tears spilling from her eyes.
Frank pulled her into a hug and Gwen cried into his shoulder. What was she doing? Castle had killed him. Castle had killed Matt. She shouldn't be hugging him. He put her dad into prison.
This wasn't her Castle.
Gwen broke down. How fucked up was she, that she woke up to scream her captors name, rather than her own father's. Frank held her, and Gwen felt safe, and small in his arms. Like a child. She hated it but clung onto the feeling just a little while longer so she wouldn't go back into uncontrollable panic.
"You ok now? Because you're crushing my already broken ribs," Frank coughed.
"S-sorry," Gwen said, letting go of him quickly.
"Just take your time kid," he said, rubbing her back.
Compartmentalise and prioritise, she told herself, before sucking in a deep breath and schooling her face. Hot shame churned in her stomach. Why did Frank have to see her in such a vulnerable state?
"I'm... I'm fine now. Thanks," she said, awkwardly removing herself from his side.
"I'm sorry I got you involved in this mess," Frank apologised.
"I kinda got myself into it, Frank," she sighed, looking away and wiping her face. "It's ok. I know how to handle torture. Been trained. I'll be fine."
"You know as well as I do training doesn't mean shit," Frank said, buttoning up his purple shirt. "This kinda thing... it stays with you. Doesn't go with time."
"I'm not talking about it," she huffed.
"You should. Not to me, but to Curtis."
"You really want me to go to him, huh? It's always Curtis this, Curtis that," Gwen said.
"Not now... Billy will be paying him a visit soon. You're too hurt to do anything."
"Wait, what? You can't just... drop that on me and expect me not to go!"
Frank sent her a look. "Billy won't hurt him. Curt's done nothing to anger him. He just needs to bait me. If you come, you'll just put yourself in the crossfire and then Curt really will get hurt. No, you're staying with Micro."
Gwen saw the logic there, but logic didn't mean shit when the anxiety hit. She grabbed Frank by his arm.
"You... you and Curt better make it out alive ok. I swear to God you have a death wish," Gwen said. "Billy said it there... that you were a revenant... a dead man walking. But that's not true. You got people to still live for Frank."
Castle accepted her comment with a nod. "I don't plan on dying. Not to him."
That was a relief. Gwen nodded, and then turned to see Agent Madani walk in. Gwen finally took a look around the room and whistled.
"You got a nice place here Agent Hottie. Sorry I bloodied up your sheets. It was a rough first time," Gwen said.
Dinah sent the girl a disgusted look, to which Gwen took as a victory.
"Good to see your well enough to still be a little shit. You're free to leave Castle. As for you Gwen—"
"You know my name and you've seen my face," Gwen said narrowing her eyes.
"You going to kill me for it?" Madani asked, raising a brow.
Gwen huffed. "No, it's not the fight club Madani. I just... the video. My face is on it."
"And yet, you don't have an identity either way. The closest we could get to facial recognition is one Gwen Stacy, but she's as normal as they come. Gwen... you can be anyone you want to be. Just, let the professionals deal with the rest and go be safe for a while."
"You promise no one else is gonna know about me? You'll cut me from the footage?" Gwen asked.
"Lieberman already did," Madani said. "And he's waiting for you. Come on Ghost Spider. You really think you can fight, let alone walk without crutches for the next two days."
Gwen grunted in acknowledgement, allowing Madani to help her to her feet. She turned to Frank and decided to say a final goodbye. Who knew if she'd see him again for a while.
"Don't die Castle. I'll be holding you to that. And... and tell Curtis I appreciate what he did for me."
"Sure."
Then Madani helped Gwen limp away, giving her a face mask, a black one made out of actual cloth. And then she handed Gwen her web shooters, which Gwen took reverently.
"Is it my birthday?" Gwen asked.
"Consider it early Christmas," Dinah replied dryly. "You'll be with the Lieberman family for a few days at a safe house. Off the books of course. Once Russo is taken down, you'll be free to go."
"Ha. Look at me. Spider-Woman in need of protecting," Gwen said bitterly.
"Everyone's in need of protection once in a while kid," Dinah said.
"Pretty words for a pretty face."
"Your aggressive flirting isn't doing you any favours kid."
"Agent Madani," Gwen mock gasped. "I would never."
"That mask make you extra shitty?"
"...Yeah it does," Gwen admitted.
"I regret it already."
That got a genuine laugh out of Gwen.
