pairings: frank x livia (platonic) , billy x livia (exes), matt x livia (snippets)
summary: Livia finds herself caught amidst another two sided war. With the reemergence of Billy Russo and a new brutal threat, she takes up her vigilante mantel yet again.
(1) Ghosts - Peace never lasts long for vigilantes, even when they run from their city. Ghosts reappear and draw Livia back to her home, but it also draws out Exodus.
(2) I Don’t Forgive You - Groundwork for the coming battle is laid out but the goal may not be as clear as it once seemed.
(3) Strangers - Small moments, far from normal, help to build trust before the inevitable.
(4) We’re Not Alike - A confrontation that was meant to end it all fails, but that tension snaps in an unexpected way, leaving two allies in a short standoff.
(5) Vicious - It all boils down to killing Russo, but what happens when he comes to her? Livia confronts him in the last place she thought he’d be.
(6) I Feel Like a God - One attack after another, Livia finds herself wearing down. What seems like an entire shift of world hits, how can she and Frank handle the potential disaster?
(7) Bad Idea, Right? - Beaten but unbroken, Livia manages to uncover a truth that keeps Frank from falling off a precipice. But as a result, she ends up caught.
The ride in the ambulance was hectic. Brett was ranting about how what he was doing wasn’t normal for him. He was weaving and gliding through traffic and Frank, the bastard, was as calm as ever.
You sat quietly, running your thumb over the bit of your pin sticking out the cuff. You knew it just needed a little nudge and the cuffs would pop open, but freeing yourself now did no good. You weren’t going to knock out Mahoney while he was going full-speed down a busy highway, so you waited.
“Hey.” Frank nudged your shin with his foot while Brett yelled on a phone call to Dinah. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Just wondering if I can convince Matt to take your case again.” You shrugged and he broke into a grin.
“What about you?”
“I can sweet talk Mahoney into letting me go. You, however, are always a different story.”
“That regret I hear?”
“Never that.” You smiled.
The impact to the ambulance jarred you, causing your rigged cuffs to pop open from the sudden movement you recognized as a car collision. You were thrown into Frank while Brett yelled something about not letting Frank go. He used his free hand to help you back to your feet and you saw Brett’s head whip around to see you free. You shook the cuff off your wrist and offered an apologetic smile. He simply glared at you before turning back to the road. You held a hand to Frank, the other slipping to the gun at the back of your belt.
“Do you got me?” You asked quickly.
“What?”
“Do you got me?” You emphasized and shoved your hand towards him.
“Yeah, yeah, I got you.” He nodded and grabbed your wrist tightly.
You offered a small nod before throwing your weight back into the seam of the ambulance doors, busting them open and balancing precariously on your heels as Frank countered your backwards lean. You lifted your other hand and fired three shots at the window.
The bullets sent spider-web-like cracks through the glass but didn’t penetrate. You quickly realized it was a cop car, meaning bulletproof glass. You sighed and scanned the car quickly. You needed a new target and your first thought was the gas tank, but that was probably under the rear bumper. You aimed your gun again and fired two shots into the back tire.
The car swerved before flailing wildly out of control before you could get a good look at the driver. You were pulling yourself back into the ambulance when the car slammed into the side again, causing your footing to slip and you to fall from Frank’s grasp.
You heard him scream your name as you bounced off the asphalt, the terror he yelled it with was so real you wished it was enough to catch you. For a split second, you wondered if he was thinking of that run for guns when Lieberman crashed into Dinah and you went dragging across the road in a similar fashion.
You closed your eyes as you rolled across the road, feeling the searingly hot road tear through your clothes and leave burning scrapes across your skin as your permanently unstable rib seemed to snap yet again. You’d never wished for that protective long sleeve more.
You climbed to your hands and knees, shaking the vertigo and blinking hard to clear the small rocks from your eyes. The muffled sound of a car horn and skidding tires drew your attention up, which hardly gave you time to get out of the way. You tried to turn away but the front fender knocked into your shoulder.
The collision sent you rolling across the road again and you nearly fell over the now broken edge. You managed to crawl to the ledge and look over. Seeing the ambulance completely tipped, you felt something shatter in your chest.
“Frank!” You cried out and the desperation you said the single syllable of his name with scraped your throat like sandpaper.
Instinctively, you went for the wire from your Bites, but you didn’t have them. You slammed a fist against the ground and tried to calculate the distance to the street below, if you could survive a fall from that height. It was unlikely the landing would be pretty, but how the hell else were you supposed to get to Frank?
You hurried to your feet and reached into the window of the nearest car. They asked quickly if you were okay but you flashed your badge before breaking off their passenger seatbelt. Their eyes went to something behind you but didn’t dare look. You just hoped Matt’s God was looking out for you.
You rigged one end to an exposed piece of rebar and wrapped the other end around your hand before you stepped off, hearing the hollow thud of another car collision. When you ran out of slack, the sudden stop yanked on your shoulder and you felt the deep pop and your arm went limp. You bit your cheek to keep in your cry as you had to cut yourself free and your knees buckled once your feet hit the ground.
You vaguely heard Dinah’s voice from above and you said quiet thanks to her appearance. You staggered across the distance and knocked on the ambulance’s side. You heard heavy thuds on the other side and the relief you were flooded with could’ve swept away New York if it was a real tide. You didn’t care to stop the tears as you hurried, and nearly fell, as you got to the back of the ambulance.
You pried the doors open and reached in to help Frank out. He wrapped one arm around you and you did the same. After a moment, he pulled away and put that hand on the side of your head. He scanned you for injuries but found only the array of small, surface level scrapes. You put a hand to your dislocated shoulder and Frank nodded towards his other arm, which you realized was hanging limply at his side.
“Just had to copy em, huh?” You tried to joke and he gave you a weak smile.
“Shit, I’m just glad you’re alive, Princess.”
He guided you to the side of the ambulance and slammed his arm back into the socket. You braced against it and he forced yours back in the same way, at which you cried out loudly. You looked around and saw the dripping gas, the lapping flames of the engine.
“Brett.” You whispered, putting a hand on Frank’s shoulder as you passed him.
You climbed back into the ambulance and drew your knife. Your footing faltered when you saw Brett’s limp form but you had to keep pushing. You forced yourself deeper into the ambulance and sawed through the seatbelt. Frank was at your side and helped you haul Mahoney out while the man mumbled about locking you both up.
The explosion went off only seconds later.
Then you and Frank parted ways. He was going after David Shultz and you were going home. You kept thinking about the man in the cop car but as you held on to the memory, forced it to replay, you could just make out who it was. The man from Ohio.
You decided to go home, not to hide, but to arm yourself. You were done hiding or running from that man, so you would be prepared to fight. To end it all. Him, Billy, anyone else who dared stand in your path. With the way you were feeling, you thought you might even cut down Matt if he tried to intervene.
You showered away the incident on the bridge, letting the water take away the small bits of gravel still stuck to your skin. It burned the fresh wounds but you let the pain sit there until your skin closed itself. You could’ve sworn you felt your rib shifting under your skin to try and right itself. There was a distinct scraping feeling just below the surface, like something was burrowing between your muscles and your lungs. It was a terrible pain, enough to make you nauseous as tears stung your eyes, but you forced yourself through it. The bones would never fully mend but it would be enough. You’d continue to put yourself back together until that ability failed you, which you knew it inevitably would. It had once, but luckily you had people who cared to bring you back. You may not always have that.
You debated your suit. You packed your staffs, belt, gun, Bites, mask, and shock disks into a bag while you thought. You wanted to wear your suit and feel it all come together, but you couldn’t fully bring yourself to it. This wasn’t something Exodus started. Livia did, and Livia would stay to see the hard work done.
So you wore fitted pants with your vigilante boots, a dark compression shirt, your usual gloves, and your long sleeve. You thought if you should go after them directly, track them by their fear or arrogance, but your mind kept wandering to Amy.
Had she gotten out of the hospital? Did she make it to the trailer? Or had she looked into Matt Murdock and gone to him? To her, he was just a name but you knew she understood what he meant to you, just how much you trusted him. Would she trust him the same?
You were reaching for your door handle when you were slammed by fear. It beat against the inside of your chest like a battering ram against a steel door, reverberating through your ribcage to a point where your breath stuttered. You backed away to your kitchen and spit in your sink. You hit the tap and tried to rinse the taste off your tongue but it wouldn’t leave.
It wasn’t your fear. It was from somewhere distant, from someone familiar. Your first thought was Frank but that man didn’t know fear, only anger. Revenge. It wouldn’t be Billy. You hadn’t felt his emotions in over a year. It couldn’t be Matt. He wasn’t involved in any of it, charged with keeping June out of trouble while you were away. That only left…
Amy.
You hurried to your door and threw it open, sprinting down your hall and down the stairs. You thought about your car but by the time you found your keys, got into your car, started the car, and pulled off, she could’ve been long gone or even dead. So you gripped your bag’s strap and ran.
You ran as fast your legs could take you, shouldering past people in front of you and mumbling apologies. Some threw curses at you, a few pushed back, but no one tried to stop you.
Night had fallen by the time you got to the trailer. As you were running up the dirt path, Frank pulled in beside you and you nearly ran into the front fender. You squinted through the headlights and saw Frank throwing his hands towards you and complaining. You scoffed and turned back to the trailer. Your eyes caught on the light coming from underneath.
Frank came up beside you and began to lecture you about running in front of moving cars, but he silenced when you reached out for him. You hand closed around the fabric of his sleeve and he reached for your elbow. He gently pulled you forward and you followed him inside.
Frank tended to Curtis, who was lying on the floor in pain, and you hurried to the back room. You checked the bedroom and bathroom, but both were empty. Your own panic began to close your throat but you had to force it down. You could feel Frank on the edge of a breakdown so you cleared your thoughts. You closed your eyes, took a deep breath, and used both hands to force your power through the room.
You saw the wisps move like fog, breezing through the small trailer and then fading out. Frank was calmer, though still frazzled, and Curtis was basically the same.
You heard Curtis explain that she ran and you felt some of the tension loosen in your chest. Frank used Curtis’ phone to call Amy but the phone was ringing from outside. Without thinking, you threw yourself through the door, a naive sense of hope flooding your veins. It ran icy when you found her cell abandoned on the ground.
You wanted to scream, but kicked the taillight out of the nearest vehicle instead. Frank went and dragged his hostage out the car and into the RV. You leaned quietly against the sink while Frank did what Frank did.
Your fingers drummed against your crossed arms as your brain flipped through questions like a rolodex.
Where could she be? Where would that man take her? How did he find her? What would you use to kill him? Why didn’t you give her the tracker like you did Lieberman’s daughter? Was she okay?
You dreaded the thought that maybe she was dead. Logic told you she wasn’t. She was leverage, bait even. Ohio Man wouldn’t waste that, not unless he had something better. But truthfully, nothing would be better to get you and Frank in the same place as the possibility of Amy being in danger.
“He’s truly scared of you.” You commented when the silence grew thick. “I can see it.”
“Good.” Frank said flatly.
“Listen, David.” You pushed off and crossed the room, leaning your hip against Frank’s shoulder. “Russians paid for these photos and then someone else found out. Suddenly… Everyone involved gets killed. Now you don’t seem the person to do that…” You looked him up and down and smiled slightly as his fear climbed and the yellow fog rumbled with new fear. “No, you don’t have the stomach for it, but I’m thinking that you know who does.”
Recognition crossed his features, quickly shifting to despair.
“No… No they- They wouldn’t.” He tried quietly but it was clear he was trying to convince himself.
“Who?” You urged, plucking at his restraint. “Tell us who it was and this ends so much sooner.” You coated your voice in fake sympathy. “I know you’re hurting, David. I know you’re scared, but just give us what we need and it can all end.”
“I swear to you I’m not part of this. I would never do this.” The man was near tears. You shoved off and patted Frank’s shoulder before going back across the room. You dropped into a chair near the table and leaned against the wall.
You were tired. You missed your friends. You wanted your kid back. You closed your eyes for a moment when you got a text from Dinah.
- need backup at dumonts. meet me? -
You raised a quiet brow and glanced at Frank. He was so enthralled in whatever he was doing that he didn’t notice. You stepped around Curtis and out the door. You headed to meet Dinah, quick strides but not quite a run. There was an urgency in her text you didn’t miss, but you were still so distracted with wherever Amy was. Your head might be for helping Dinah but your heart wanted to tear through New York till Amy was with you again.
But you knew Frank would get what you both needed. He’d get a location or a name. By the time you got back, he’d have everything ready to go. You had your gun out of your bag and a knife at your back. It wasn’t much, but to back up Dinah against a psychiatrist, it should be enough.
You could hear the fight as you approached the apartment. You loaded a comment about starting the fun without you and kicked the door open. You had less than a minute to learn the layout of the apartment. Rooms to your left, living room and kitchen to your right.
The fight was in the kitchen.
You got inside and saw Krista had Dinah’s head nearing the flame of the kettle. You reached for the kettle and knob simultaneously. Her head snapped up and you smiled in greeting before swinging the kettle at her. She screeched in panic and ducked, dropping her hold on Dinah.
You didn’t make contact but the hot water came out the spout and hit her arm, making her cry out again. From her position on the floor, she lunged for your legs. You sidestepped quickly and dropped to press your knee against her spine. You placed your hand firmly at the back of her head and forced her against the ground.
Dinah scrambled to the next room.
Krista thrashed beneath you and began elbowing the ankle you had on the ground. You rolled your eyes and leaned into the knee on her back to lift and slam your foot down on her hand. You pulled your blade and shifted your foot, only to drive it down and through her hand.
She cried out. You didn’t care.
You looked up to find Dinah and Krista threw the entirety of her weight to the side and you were thrown off. You hit the cabinets hard and she was able to get to her feet. You heard the squelch of her flesh as the knife was removed. Her hands scrambled over the countertop and she came back brandishing a steak knife in her bloodied hand. She looked down at you and the murderous intent was clear, but you didn’t miss the underlying motive. Protection.
It wasn’t hard to figure out that she was trying to protect Billy, and she was clearly willing to do whatever she had to. She wouldn’t stop until you and Dinah were dead. You expected a fight, but Krista had turned it into a death match.
She let out a loud cry and she fell to her knees in front of you before jabbing the knife forward. You caught her wrist and shoved her aside, forcing the knife’s tip into the cabinet door. You slammed your elbow against her jaw repeatedly until you heard the crack of splitting wood which told you she had freed the blade. Your head whipped towards it, which was a mistake, and as she pulled the knife back, the serrated edge skirted your cheek. You cried out and shoved her away.
You got to Dinah quickly, but before you could say anything, Krista slammed into you both. The three of you hit the ground hard and your shoulder smacked the edge of her coffee table.
At least she abandoned the knife.
You looked around and caught Dinah’s eye. She nodded to the window and then looked pointedly at Krista, who was groaning as she climbed to her feet. You nodded and moved to the other end of the couch while Dinah went for the other woman.
They struggled, shoving back and forth and reaching for throats. Dinah finally broke Krista’s hold and kicked at her chest, throwing her into your grip. You smiled as you latched onto her arms. With a small swing, you slammed her face first against the window.
Immediately, her fear was visible. You kept a hand at the back of her head, face squished against the glass, and she squirmed under your hold. With your free hand, you pulled your gun. You shoved off her, hearing a whimper as a response, and aimed. You fired four shots, two on either side.
Krista flinched at the sound and shakily turned to face you. You saw her bloody handprint on the glass before you slammed your shoulder against her chest.
The glass shattered with an echoing sound. Her scream filled any gaps for silence and you watched her limbs flail as she went down. You put your gun away as you did. Her body smacked the concrete hard, with enough force for her to bounce and hit again. The crowd gathered almost immediately.
You backed away from the window and grabbed Dinah’s arms. You spun her and tried to push her to the door but she seemed frozen.
Shock, you realized. Dinah was in shock.
You made a noise to yourself before checking the window. The crowd grew but no lights. No sirens.
You still had time. At least, you thought you did.
Your eyes locked with a hooded figure and the despair slammed you like a punch in the jaw. However, it quickly melted into rage, pure hatred. You backed away in a hurry and grabbed Dinah’s hand.
You yanked her with you, paused only to shove her jacket into her hands and tuck your bloodied knife away. You realized the fire was still on, and while you considered leaving it, you didn’t want to burn the entire building down. You hustled to twist the knob and looked back to Dinah.
There was no more time. You could feel Billy coming down the hall.
“Dinah.” You grabbed both her arms and shook her. “Come back. Come on!” You urged.
He was only a few doors down.
“Billy’s coming.” You shook her again. “I can’t fight him and look out for you.”
No response.
You groaned and quickly looked around, spotting the tip of Dinah’s gun under the table. You scrambled for it quickly and shoved it into her hands. She looked at the gun, then you, then it seemed to sink in what you had said. She nodded vigorously and you breathed out in relief.
It didn’t last long.
Billy slammed through the door, firing blindly and screaming. You dropped to the ground and slid around the corner, brandishing your bloodied knife, while Dinah spun to take cover in a room off to the side. Once he stepped into the living room, you acted.
You kicked out his knee and he buckled. His rage turned on you and you swiped the blade, catching his stomach. and he growled. You caught a glimpse of Dinah coming back into the living room.
You planted a hand on the ground and leaned into it, allowing you enough balance to swing your foot and kick at the slice. Your foot hit hard and he crumpled a little more. You dropped the blade and dove forward, tackling Billy to his back.
You had a comment loaded about a familiar view and different circumstances, but you ignored the opportunity. Instead, you made sure the gun slid away before you started slamming your fist against his face. His head jerked to the side with the impact and you watched the blood splatter out of his mouth and onto Krista’s hardwood floors.
He caught your next punch and twisted your wrist outward, his thumb purposefully digging into the bullet scar. You whined before he yanked down and pulled you off him. You hit your elbow on the ground first and before you knew it, Billy had you pinned. Both his hands closed around your throat and you grasped one of his wrists, fighting to get your other hand behind your back for your gun.
“You had to make it about her.” He said angrily, venom lacing his words as the hatred in them burned against your skin.
“I should’ve-“ You choked out. “Killed you at- At that ap- Apartment.”
The shot firing broke the silence and you flinched slightly. Billy crumpled against you for a moment and you took the chance to throw him off you. You scooted away quickly and freed your gun, quickly firing into his leg before he could get to his feet.
You felt Dinah’s hands under your arms and you let her help you to your feet. Your eyes scanned the area and you couldn’t find your blade. That made your stomach pitch, even briefly considering Billy using it, but you forced the thought away. Just because you didn’t see it didn’t mean Billy had it. Maybe it was just under the furniture.
Immediately after you had the thought, he proved you wrong. Your blade came through the side of your leg, angled down towards your knee, and you fell back to the ground. You scooted yourself away as Billy tackled Dinah to the ground. Every movement of the joint sent a jolt of pain and you bit your lip hard trying to keep your noises down.
You yanked your blade out roughly and used it to slice a strip of the curtain off. You tied it around your wound as tight as you could and gripped your knife’s handle. You leaned on the couch and you came around and found Billy on top of Dinah, both of them gripping the other’s throat. You rocked back a bit and threw yourself against Billy’s side.
He fell away and your instinct was to look at Dinah, just to see if she’s alive, but you couldn’t risk it. Instead, you slid on the side of your leg and got to Billy’s side. His eyes met yours and you turned your head to spit on the floor. Then you looked back and drove your blade into his stomach.
Once, twice, thrice.
He sputtered, blood trickling out his mouth, but you quickly slammed a fist against the side of his head and he fell limp. You dropped to a seat and heaved a sigh. As soon as you stopped moving, your adrenaline died and the pain flared.
Your knee felt on fire. Your cheek stung. Your elbow throbbed. Your throat burned. You leaned against the arm of the couch and gave in to the pain. You whined to yourself as you felt it grow, felt it sit under your skin while your body tried to mend itself. You could feel the edges of the slice on your cheek and the gash on your knee reaching for the other side, the tissues in your throat reforming after the swelling, the bruise on your elbow breaking apart. It was familiar, the pain of healing, but it was too much at the same time. You closed your eyes, only intended for a moment, and you felt yourself fall into unconsciousness.
It wasn’t long until you came to. The pains across your body were dull aches and you could see the lights of police cars on the street. You didn’t know where they were so you had to run. You ignored Dinah laying beside you but you couldn’t ignore the pool of blood. It wasn’t yours, but it had grown far enough to reach your pant leg.
You pushed to your feet and saw Billy was missing. You looked up and cursed God again for taking that victory away from you. Your knife was gone with him and you hoped that if he dared to pull it out, it’d take the last bit of strength he had. You ran a hand down your face and came to sudden realization that there was no mask to hide behind.
Your stomach pitched at the potential danger you were in. Billy Russo gone, Krista Dumont on the sidewalk in a pile of glass, Dinah Madani unconscious at your feet. It was a massacre and you were at the center of it. Your head was ringing, like someone was aggressively shaking a bell in your skull, when you realized it was your implant. Someone calling.
You snuck into the hallway, hearing the officers coming up the stairs. You went the other way down the hall until you found another stairwell. You inched the door open, heard no one, and darted inside. With a new and temporary limp, you made your way down the stairs and to the back alley.
You reached up to call back but no one answered. You shook your head, crept closer to the street to get your bearings, and made your way back to the trailer.
You’d reconvene with Frank, take a few hours to finish recovery, gear up fully, and go after your kid. You still had to find Amy.
You didn’t know how long it took you to get back. With the limp, seemingly having grown worse as you went, and the only moving via alleys, it felt like you took hours to get back. It could’ve been less than one. The moon was still out, that was all you knew.
You came through the door and Curtis stood immediately. He practically ran to your side when he saw you limp, taking on most of your weight until he got you to the closest chair. He examined the healing wound on your knee then promptly went off for a kit to clean and stitch it. You were grateful for it and the stinging of the needle was a welcome distraction from the vaguely familiar man staring at you with a pathetic plea in his eyes.
You looked at Curtis with a raised brow but he simply shook his head. You glanced back at the senator and found it wasn’t necessarily fear anymore. More apologetic, ashamed even. You said nothing.
The silence dragged on for what felt like an eternity until finally the stitches were done. Curtis patted your leg and you smiled in thanks. Quietly, he got up and left, taking Frank’s captive with him.
You rubbed the joint gently and winced as the blossoming bruise protested your touch. You limped to the bathroom and found a long wrap. You worked it around your knee and fastened it tightly, both enjoying and hating the compression it offered. It was a little while longer until Frank came back.
“Where is she?” You managed, though your voice came out raspy.
“He has her. She followed him, called us for help, and he took her.” Frank said.
He was angry and it unfortunately was pointed at you as well. It didn’t take a genius to know that the call you had gotten earlier was Amy. You missed a chance to get her, a chance to end that battle, because you were fighting Billy. All of that and you didn’t even know if Billy was dead. He was also angry at himself, for not being able to keep her. And he was angry at her for getting herself caught.
“And where the hell were you, huh?” Frank asked and the accusation was hard to miss.
You glared at him slightly, wondering what he thought you were doing that was enough for you to miss Amy’s call and come back with a bloody leg, but you kept your thoughts to yourself. You didn’t have it in you to argue.
“Took a shot at Billy.” You admitted. “Don’t know if it’s done but he left about half his blood on the floor… I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
“Yeah…” Frank sighed, coming over to your side. He dropped a hand to your shoulder and gave a small squeeze. Your head fell against his forearm and you reached up to pat his hand. “You gonna be alright?”
“Always am, Frank.”
Frank stepped away to take a call. He was gone less than a minute but came back with that look you’d come to expect from him. A fight was coming and it was coming fast. You gestured for Frank to give you his hand and he helped you out of the chair.
You made your way to your bag, which you had left on the small kitchen table, and began fitting equipment into place. Your belt clipped easily around your hips and you filled its sheaths with the appropriate weapons. You slung your pack over your shoulders and you decided to leave your mask behind. Your Bites fit securely to your wrists and the blue light from them loosened a knot in your chest.
When you were ready, you and Frank decided to wait outside. He sat on the little step leading into the trailer and you positioned yourself along the junk cars. You were kneeling in the dirt, drawing figures on the ground out of boredom when the car finally pulled up.
Frank and the Man had their exchange with Amy in the middle. When she finally caught your eyes, you saw the shock make her pupils go wide. You held a finger to your lips to keep her quiet and she gave you a small nod.
You crept around the cars until you were behind their exchange. You stood and revealed yourself, flexing your hands to wake your Bites. You heard Frank tell the man - who’s name you finally learned to be John - to point the gun at him because he’d do anything for Amy.
Frank’s eyes met yours for a second but you didn’t need words for his intent.
Not yet.
You recognized that John’s gun was too close to Amy’s head, his finger too close to the trigger. So you waited, tense and ready to fight. To protect Amy and Frank, whatever the cost. You knew Frank wasn’t bulletproof, even if he believed he was, but your shirt at least was. You’d put yourself in front of whatever bullet was intended for them, because they were your family.
You’d do anything for them.
“Where’s your friend?” John asked and your head tilted.
You backed away slowly, though your weapons remained ready. You kept moving until you were able to crouch behind the car.
“Let the girl go.” You called finally. “Come on, John. You just said you have kids. Let her go, I’ll come out, and we’ll settle this.”
You didn’t look up but you felt the relief from Frank and Amy. You smiled to yourself, blinking away the tears of your own relief, before you stood. Your hands were raised and John’s gun found aim at your chest almost immediately. You kept his gaze and he frowned at your outfit. You wondered if he recognized the top, but you also couldn’t remember if that was the one you wore when you fought him last time.
You were pulled from the thought when Amy’s arms wrapped around you. Immediately, you hugged back and allowed yourself to forget John’s presence.
“I’m sorry.” She mumbled against you. “I’m sorry, Livia. I tried to call but-“
“Hey.” You stepped back enough to look her in the eyes. “It’s not your fault, okay? Listen, I’m gonna give you an address. You drive straight there and knock on his door. Don’t stop knocking until he answers.”
“But Frank said-“
“I’m not worried about that.” You cut in. “You tell him that I sent you. He’ll look out for you till I come get you, alright?”
“Who is it?” She sniffled.
“You finally get to meet Red.” You smiled slightly and guided her into the car. You leaned across her to put in Matt’s address in the GPS. You scribbled his apartment number on her hand with a pen you found on the center console. “June should be with him. Tell them I’ll see you all soon.”
“Don’t die.” She whined and your heart broke. You were painfully reminded of how young she really was.
“We won’t.”
You shut the door and walked to Frank’ side with your hands raised again. You felt John’s gun following you, but it was the least of your concerns. When you heard the horn, likely part of Frank’s orders, you felt like you could breathe again.
“Where’d you send her?” Frank asked quietly.
“Red.” You replied in the same low tone. “He’ll watch out for her.”
“He still looking out for your mini?”
“Yeah.” You smiled slightly. “She’s in good hands.”
“I know.” He nodded.
Frank and John had a quick exchange about David. Both men took dangerous steps towards each other and your whole body tensed. Once John was close enough, you acted.
You dropped a knee and shot a wire around his ankles. As you yanked his feet out, Frank was there to make sure he hit the ground. Frank pounded away at the man so you ditched the wire and hurried to kick the gun away from John’s reach. However, that didn’t stop John from hurting Frank with an old car part.
You reached behind and pulled both staffs, twisting them together quickly as John collected a new weapon of his own. Frank was regaining his bearings when you stood in front of your shared opponent.
He swung it at your head and just got your staff up in time to block it. You twisted around to force the weapon, what looked like a shovel, to the ground. Your foot slammed on top of it and you jerked the edge of your weapon to hit his jaw. He staggered and you jammed your knee up into his stomach.
His hold on the shovel fell. You kicked out at his chest to force him back against the closest car. Without hesitation, you moved in and pressed your staff against his throat.
You wanted him to die. You watched to watch the light fade from his eyes, to feel him struggle for his last breath. You wanted to kill him for everything he had done to you, to Amy, to Frank.
The thought brought out something long buried, something you didn’t want to fight against. You let that floodgate open, let the rage and pain and anger spill out.
The red haze across your thoughts and your vision served as enough of a distraction for John to use against you. One of his hands grabbed your arm and the other landed on the side of your head. He jerked you to the side and slammed your head against the car’s windshield twice. He kept you pinned, leaning his weight against your skull, and you had to squeeze one eye shut. The glass spidered beneath you and he twisted your head, slicing razor thin lines open across half your face.
Vaguely, you wondered if that was only a small fraction of the pain Frank inflicted on Billy back at the carousel with the mirror.
The pressure suddenly disappeared and you slid down the car. You dropped into the dirt, fresh blood seeping from the thin wounds. You blinked it away but you couldn’t quite tell if it was out of your eye, given the red tint the scene had taken on.
Frank had stepped in while you tried to regain control. You weren’t trying to fight the manic rage in your head or the burning sensation through your muscles. You were willing to use it, but you needed to direct it. You needed focus.
With a flex of your hands, both Bites ignited while you scanned the scene in front of you. The bright blue shifted to red and you could all but feel the electricity in your blood. It was the only thing that seemed to ground you into the present moment. That and the stinging pain down half your face.
John had just thrown Frank to the ground and was reaching for a length of chain. You twisted the long staff apart and threw one piece, ricocheting it off the ground to smack John in the throat. He stumbled away and you ran at him again.
You slipped the other staff into the pack before you shouldered into his side with enough force to head a crack. He hit the ground and rolled a few feet away. You heard the clink of the chain behind you, John coughing and wheezing in front you, while you patted your belt for a quick inventory.
Shock disks. Bites. Staff. Gun.
Your knife had disappeared when Billy did. Your retractable was long since gone. That was a weapon you didn’t think you’d miss.
You slipped two shock disks between your fingers and tightened your hands into fists. John stood unsteadily but still came at you. He landed a few heavy hits to your jaw, knocking you off balance slightly. He grabbed your chin, forced you to look at him as he raised his fist for what he intended to be a finishing blow. You took the opportunity to slam your fist into his stomach.
His entire body tensed with the electricity, gripping tighter to your face. You pried his fingers off with your other hands and shoved him away. Frank was at your side within moments, kicking at John’s head before helping you get some distance.
“You alright?” You asked before moving your jaw around. You felt the familiar throb of pain but it was still in place.
“Yeah.” He mumbled, pretending like he wasn’t covered in blood. Whose blood it was, you couldn’t say. “You?”
“Never better.” You smiled.
Frank threw himself back into the fight before you could. Fighting with Frank was starkly different than fighting with Matt. You and Matt fought in tandem, alternating punches with complimentary styles. You two moved like a pair of dancers or figure skaters, lifelong partners that could anticipate each other’s moves.
You and Frank fight in waves. His ambush would come, then while he took a retreat, you attacked. You two would alternate, creating a never ending barrage of offense. Neither of you stayed down too long because the other one always found a gap to haul the other up. You two fought like the soldiers you were.
It came to be your turn when John tackled Frank to the ground.
You took a short running start to slide on your knees around the fallen man, firing both Bites as you went. He convulsed with the sudden shock as your momentum stopped. Bracing your hands flat against the dirt, you slammed both feet forward to send John to his back.
Your previously discarded staff was close by so you scooped it up, swiped the rotating mechanism, and heard the distinct sound of the blade releasing. You jammed it forward but John managed to avoid the impalement, suffering a gash along his side instead. You shifted to a kneel and slashed upwards, cutting across the fronts of his legs as he tried to stand, then you threw the weapon like a javelin. It buried itself in his shoulder and he cried out.
You got to your feet before searching for Frank. Losing focus was your mistake. John had yanked out and discarded your weapon before he tackled you. His bloodied shoulder slammed your rib cage and the disconnected bones shifted suddenly. You screamed at the pain but John didn’t ease up. He kept pushing until your back hit a car and he could yank you over the hood.
You tried to push yourself up and get some distance, but the sharp pain made you collapse, your back flush on the hood and your head hanging off the other end. John took the opportunity to slam his elbow against the center of your chest, hard enough that you practically flipped over yourself.
Air was knocked out of your lungs. You were dizzy from the pain. Your head hurt. Your leg still hurt, even more now. The bruise was already forming across your sternum. You could barely hear the thunks, thuds, and grunts as Frank and John continued the brawl.
You wanted it over. You were just so damned tired.
You pushed yourself up and forced your feet to move. You limped over, practically dragging the useless leg behind you. Frank had gotten John to his knees by then. You stood behind John, gripping a suspender in either hand. Hard yanks allowed you to cross them over opposite shoulders and you pinned your knee between his shoulder blades while you pulled the strips of material back.
“When you- kill them-“ John choked out. Frank hesitated to listen and you rolled your eyes. “Don’t hurt- my boys.”
Frank looked at you, a silent request for you to wait. You considered it, put yourself in John’s shoes. If it was the other way around and John was going to kill you, you wouldn’t want him to go after your girls. If your last words were asking for June and Amy’s safety, you’d be okay dying.
You let go of the suspenders and John greedily gasped for air. Frank offered you a hand and you limped around to stand beside him.
“I know who you are.” John looked between you both. “You are Death.”
“What if…” Your voice was a rasp so you cleared your throat. “You mentioned your boys. What about their mother?”
“God called her home while I was here.” He confessed, nearing tears.
The red haze broke apart and you blinked at the clarity. You also understood you couldn’t orphan those boys.
“They did that on purpose.” You knelt in front of John. Frank’s hand landed on your shoulder. “They took you from your boys and your wife when they needed you so even if you failed, they had what they wanted. They’ll turn your boys into what they’ve made you. If I can keep my girls from becoming like me, I’d do anything… What if there’s a way to bring you back to your boys and end this?”
“You fight with the Devil in your eyes.” John said calmly. “But you have a good heart.”
“What do you say, John?” Frank asked. “Let’s go get your boys, eh?”
John sniffled then nodded. He looked at you both with tears shining in his eyes.
You knew you made the right choice.
The next morning, your body was stiff as you climbed out of bed. The deep purple bruise took over your chest. The stitched wound at your knee was red and swollen, making bending the joint hard. The white of your eye was red but the thin slices had healed. Your rib was less painful but you could feel it shift with each breath.
When your phone rang with the unknown number, you hesitated to answer it. Curiosity took over.
It was Billy. He confessed he was bleeding out, said he didn’t want to die alone. He didn’t expect you to forgive him. He just wanted company.
Something long since buried made you go to him. You did, however, have enough sense to text Frank to meet you there just in case.
You walked into the building and immediately knew you two were alone. Your gun was a comfortable pressure against your hip as you found the room he was in. You made a point to sit on the floor well out of his reach.
“How the mighty have fallen.” You commented.
“I didn’t think you’d actually come.” He smiled weakly. “It’s good to see you, Livs.”
“Was it worth it?” You asked instead of acknowledging his sentiment. The worst part was that you could feel he actually meant it. “Abandoning the people who cared about you?”
He scoffed slightly, which turned to a cough and more blood spilled out his mouth. “We both know you didn’t- didn’t actually care.”
“I did.” You nodded. You figured it was about time to confess it all, especially if he wasn’t going to live much longer. “Bill, I would’ve… I thought you were going to be the one to bring me back after I lost Matt. I was scared of admitting I loved you because everyone I love gets hurt. I had just lost someone that meant everything to me. I wasn’t going to risk anyone else like that.”
“Do you remember when I said we could get married?” Another small smile.
“Yeah, we were both drunk off our asses.” You chuckled slightly. “You said there was a chapel not too far from Anvil and it’d be fun.”
“You didn’t say no.”
“Because I was trying to decide if it was worth the risk.”
“Livs-“
“Don’t call me that.”
“Livia.” He corrected. “Everything I’ve done to hurt you, I don’t expect you to forgive me.” He spoke with an unexpected genuineness that threw you for a moment. l
A deathbed apology was usually just to clear a guilty conscious in your experience. But Billy said those words knowing you’d be unlikely to forgive him. You felt compelled to hear him out.
“I’m not sorry for what’s happened to you.” You said plainly. “I did love you, Billy Russo, but I mourned that man a long time ago.”
You reached into your pocket and withdrew the watch he had given you. You flipped it over, ran your thumb along his etched initials, then tossed it to him. It landed atop one of many blood stains on his shirt.
“That was one of the last things you gave me.” You explained.
“Why’d you keep it?” He asked, pupils blown wide as he fought to stay. “If you hated me so bad.”
You sighed slightly, your thumb running over the bullet scar. “I guess I used to hope that when I saw you again, you’d look the same. Like you did before everything… I thought I’d see my Billy, not whatever Rawlins made you. But honestly, I’m not even sure what you became.”
Frank came in before Billy could respond. He stood behind you like a guardian taking post. Billy tried to say he was happy Frank was there and apologize, but Frank didn’t let him get the words out. You flinched at the gunshots but said nothing. You felt nothing.
You had already mourned Billy Russo, so seeing his dead body stirred nothing. Just a faint sense of relief at the thought of a threat eliminated.
“You alright?” Frank asked as you two left.
“Yeah.” You nodded slightly.
The night came sooner than you expected and it was time to put an end to the Schultzs’ plans. You didn’t know their son David enough to care about his career or his life falling apart over the pictures. You didn’t even care about the pictures themselves. It was about going after the people who sent someone for you and your family.
So long as they lived, your family’s fate was unknown. You wouldn’t stand for that.
Amy went in first but you refused to let her in alone. You ignored the mask, wanting them to look clearly into the eyes of the woman who’d end them. Frank was beside you while Amy did her talking. You two took post in the next room. angling yourselves for a clear sightline.
When you saw the wife make a move for Amy, you fired your weapon. Your bullet went through her hand and the knife clattered free. Frank’s gunshot came next, blowing a hole through her head.
The husband screamed in terror while you two marched in.
You stood quietly one protective step in front of Amy while Frank made his threats. Amy warned of going to the Bulletin with her evidence. You knew that Karen wouldn’t hesitate to run the story with or without her editor’s approval, and you’d be by her side throughout whatever backlash came from it.
“It’s your choice.” You said flatly, tossing an empty gun to the table. You pulled out a single bullet, examining it thoughtfully as you continued. “You take that gun, put it in your mouth, and blow out the back of your head. Be with your wife.” You looked at the man. Yellow fog surrounded him like a blanket and you smiled. “Or you live. Live with the truth of what you’ve done.”
You carefully placed the bullet on the table before leaving. Amy was right behind you and Frank followed after, a neat line as you left the Schultz estate.
You weren’t even out the driveway when the gun went off.
The last exchange with John was silent, understanding nods before he loaded his sons and left.
The next day, you and Frank were at the bus depot with Amy. She tried to convince Frank to go with her but he refused, saying he didn’t need her on his conscious.
“Does that means he cares?” Amy teased, looking at you with faux shock.
“Even the Grinch’s heart can grow.” You laughed and it got a chuckle out of Frank. “You’re young, Amy. Go have fun, be a kid.”
“I care about you guys, too.” She said genuinely. “I owe you pretty much everything.”
“And you’ll repay me by living your life, okay?” You squeezed her hand.
“Yeah.” She nodded with a forced smile before looking to Frank. “Why did you come after me in the bar that night?”
“The tougher you acted, the more scared you looked.” He shrugged.
“And you?” She focused back on you. “Why’d you stay?”
“You reminded me of someone.” You smiled slightly. “I couldn’t save her, but I could save you…”
You glanced around while Amy and Frank shared a hushed conversation. You caught sight of a familiar figure standing a few benches away. She met your eyes and offered an understanding smile. You nodded and she came closer.
Suddenly, you were pulled into an embrace. One of Amy’s arms was around your neck and the other around Frank. You felt Frank grab onto your arm tightly as Amy was sandwiched between you two. There was a cold chill throughout the embrace and you could hear her sniffles.
“You’ll be okay.” You told her quietly when you pulled away. Gently, you wiped a tear from her cheek.
“She’s lucky to have you.” Amy said sadly. Your brows furrowed and she gave a weak laugh. “June.”
“Take care of yourself.” You smiled sadly.
Frank reached for your hand as Amy went to climb onto the bus. You slid over to sit beside him and a new presence filled your old seat.
“What are you doing here?” You asked her.
“Thought you two would want some company.” June said softly. “Hey, Frank.”
Summary: A quick run nearly turns disastrous when a bold move goes wrong. An attempted reconciliation between friends turns nasty, all because the aftermath of Midland Circle still lingers in Livia’s actions.
As you approached your usual entrance, you felt a familiar tingle through your muscles. It was one of intent, one specifically reserved for when there was a mission to be accomplished. A mission you’d work mindlessly, like a task you had practiced a thousand times over. Instructions that were carved into your bones and wired into the deepest part of your brain that you’d never be free of.
The Red Room had seeped into your DNA, altered your very being from the first mission you were given as a child. And for what seemed like the first moment since your freedom, you were thankful to have that darker, much bloodier, much angrier side.
“Just in time.” Frank nodded as you approached. “Let’s go.”
“You’ve been busy.” You gestured to the Mustang. “We get a location on the guns?”
“Yeah, there’s uh… a meet tonight.” Lieberman answered, but it was clear that he wasn’t really focused on the task at hand. “I can’t do this.” He confessed suddenly.
“It’s a two-man job so you don’t have a choice.” Frank answered flatly.
“Hello?” You waved a hand before you gestured to yourself.
“I’m not letting you get in the middle of this. You’re watching our backs tonight, alright? Eyes from a distance. That’s it.”
You glared at him and he met your expression with a challenge of his own.
“Where are your fancy goggles then, hmm?” He said simply, gesturing to your eyes. “Cause if you go out there and someone recognizes you down the line, you lose everything. You even think about that?”
“Yeah... I have it.” You patted the fabric that hid the mask at the base of your throat. “It’s a little beat up but it’ll work.”
“Then it’s a three-person job.” Frank rolled his eyes.
“I don’t do this!” Lieberman said pointedly. “I- I sit behind a screen. You shouldn’t trust me to help you with this.”
“Are you done?” You asked in annoyance. “Cause this whole woe is me act gets old real fast. Get your shit and let’s go. We’re wasting time with this conversation.”
When the man didn’t budge, Frank took a few steps closer to taunt him.
“So this is it, huh? This is what Sarah meant?” Frank said with a matter-of-fact tone and Lieberman visibly tensed. “She said you never got your hands dirty, right? If there was a tough job, you’d call a guy.”
“We may be a lot of shitty things, but at least no one can say that about us.” You added on with a mocking laugh. “If Red ever said something like that about me back when we started…” You sucked a sharp breath between your teeth. “Talk about embarrassing.”
You could almost hear a switch flip in Lieberman as he grabbed his gun from the table and got up. He was angry, at you two for being assholes and at the situation. He didn’t want to do it and you didn’t blame him. He had absolutely no experience in the middle of a fight, but it had to be done. And had you not shown up, he would’ve ended up having to do more.
“Finally.” You groaned as the man passed you. “Aw, are you mad?” You taunted.
“You’re both pricks.” He commented and you chuckled.
“Atta boy.” Frank egged him on and you smiled slightly. “Pissed off beats scared every time.”
Frank gave you a quick rundown on the way to the meet. You only half listened, distracted by the almost burning sensation of the mask sitting against the skin at the base of your throat. That mask may have been broken and bloody, but it held memories of its own.
Granted, those memories were angry and disagreeing, times when you and Daredevil stood in opposition. But they were still memories of a man you loved, even if you didn’t realize it at the time. You pulled the mask out and set it to sit at the top of your head instead, hoping your hair would serve as a buffer. And it worked, but only for a few minutes.
With a quiet sigh, you fit the mask into place as you got out of the car and there was almost a jolt along the old scars around your eye. You tapped the scar tucked under your hair and pressed gently, shifting your finger to work through the static until you picked up on the channels the communications were going through. On the other end, you heard a familiar voice that you knew you should be able to put a face to, or at least a name, but all you could tell was that you had heard it before.
“...Hold tight. Calm and careful.” She said, embodying her own words within her voice.
You waited in silence as you heard the song begin to play over the channel. You groaned in embarrassment at Lieberman’s song choice but willed it to the back of your focus. You could make out the different voices barely cutting through the song, panicked uncertainty in their tones as they repeated their messages with hopes of an answer.
Frank tapped your arm as the truck approached and you scooted closer to the ledge. With a nod to each other, you two dropped down and landed on the roof, you on the cab and Frank on the trailer. Frank offered you his hand and you took it before you leaned over and opened the passenger door. You heard the exclamation from inside the truck and leaned away from the swinging arm. Instead, you caught the wrist and yanked the man out, throwing his body across the pavement.
You let go of Frank at that point and maneuvered yourself into the seat, careful to shut the door behind you so you wouldn’t go flying as well. You offered a nod to the driver before turning and slamming both feet against him. His head slammed into the side panel and he fell unconscious almost instantly. In a quick movement, you grabbed the wheel with one hand and reached for the door with the other. You managed to pop it open and Frank pulled the driver out, quickly taking his place.
Once the truck was far enough, he parked it and you both got out. You followed him into the trailer, where he dawned a flamethrower. You almost laughed as he pulled the door down. It didn’t take long for the car that was following you to catch up and for the agents to come very close to becoming barbecue.
The spewing flames took you back to the first fight with Nobu when you thought you had burned him alive. Fisk was there, and so was Matt. You thought he had died that night and you forced yourself to choose between yourself or your unofficial partner at the time. You were only drawn back to the present when you heard the splashes. Frank offered you a hand down from the truck and you accepted it without a word.
You kept your eyes away from Frank, knowing you would catch a worried expression for doing exactly what he had said would be a problem. But you also knew he couldn’t afford to be too focused on you. Not when you were operating in a timed window. You were glad you chose your cracked mask because at least you could partially hide behind the blood.
“Take the van.” Frank told Lieberman as they swapped places. “Go with him.” Frank gestured to you.
“Why?” You asked plainly.
“Keep him alive if this goes bad.”
“And keeps me out of the way?”
“Keeps you alive, too.”
“I don’t care about that.”
“I do.” Frank offered over his shoulder before climbing into the Mustang.
You blew out a quick sigh and faced Lieberman, who was staring at you like a lost puppy. You gestured for him to get in while you hauled yourself into the passenger seat. The uncomfortable tension in the cab made your skin tingle so you rubbed your hands over your arms in an attempt to break it up.
“So.. How’d you meet Frank?” Lieberman asked after a few minutes of driving in silence.
“He shot my boyfriend in the head.” You said flatly, and when you heard it out loud, it was a terrible way to meet someone. “He lived, though. He, uh, he had a helmet. Died of something else.”
“Oh..”
You glanced in the side view to see another car joining your convoy. You shifted in your seat and tapped your mask, hoping for a better view of the driver through the backend. A woman, vaguely familiar.
Why could you not figure this out?
“We’ve got company.” You warned after adjusting your implant.
“Head for the highway. I’ll cut them off.” Frank answered and you groaned slightly at the lack of involvement.
“If we don’t get these guns, he’s gonna be pissed.” Lieberman explained when you dropped the right way in your seat with a huff.
“Not all of us are happy to be sidelined.” You muttered. “Who was this deal with anyway?”
“Homeland. It was a sting on the Greeks.”
“Homeland…” You repeated as the gears turned in your head.
Suddenly, the voice made sense. Did he get dirty?
The woman you saw was the same woman Billy had at the bar. Special Agent Dinah Madani.
“Holy shit.” You realized.
“What?”
“I know someone who was there. I know who’s driving that car.”
“Should I- Should I turn around?”
“I don’t..” Your brows furrowed as you thought. “I don’t know…”
“Dammit, Exodus. Does he need our help?” He asked not urgently, banging a palm against the steering wheel to punctuate each word.
“That’s the problem. The whole point was the guns. We can’t blow that. It’s a major risk for you to get involved like that.”
“But if you know there’s a chance…”
“I don’t.”
He looked between you and the road a few times before he looked over his shoulder. He offered you another quizzical look, one that almost pleaded for you to tell him what to do, but all you could do was shrug. You wanted to go back and help, even if it was just firing shots to throw the driver off, but your gut was telling you that getting Lieberman that close might ruin everything.
“Screw it.” He said to himself and yanked the steering wheel to turn the truck around.
You slammed your hand against the roof to keep yourself stable as he turned. You rolled down your window and you could hear the engines of the cars in a chase.
“If you can get close enough, I can shoot out her tires.” You explained as you pulled your gun. “Make a getaway before anything’s at risk.”
He nodded quickly and muttered some hype words to himself. You gave a small eye roll before you climbed halfway through the window to sit in the opening. You wedged a foot between the seat and the door and braced the other against the center console. Out of habit, you reached for the wire but came up empty. You sighed to yourself and refocused on the task at hand, gripping your gun tightly in one hand and holding the handle near the windshield with the other as you drew closer to the bright headlights.
“Slow down.” You said, though you were ignored.
“Hey!” You banged your gun against the roof of the truck.”Lieberman! You gotta stop!”
No response.
“You’re gonna hit them, stop!”
You realized that was exactly what he planned to do and you reacted as quickly as you could. You pulled back the leg that was against the console and pressed it against the edge of the seat to free your other foot. You had shoved your gun away but held on to the handle to ensure you didn’t fall backward. That was all the prep you could do before the collision hit.
Your back and neck slammed into the mirror and it snapped from the impact while your arm nearly spun around in its socket before you let go. You were sent flying across the asphalt, the entire side of your body colliding with the unforgiving ground before you went rolling. Your head hit the discarded mirror hard with a sick smack that seemed to echo throughout the empty alleys along with the crack of the glass that flattened the broken lens against your tightly shut eyes as you rolled over it. Your wrists stung violently from the hyperextension of your trying to catch yourself on the initial landing. Bits of rock shredded pieces of your shirt away and your chin, palms, and cheek burned with the sensation of a fresh cut crammed with gravel.
When you finally stilled, face down against the asphalt, you coughed hard as air tried to refill your lungs. You managed to get yourself to your elbows and you gasped for breath, spitting out blood in the process, as you felt two hands under your arms. You cried out when you were hauled to your feet, feeling a sharp stabbing in your side.
That rib was definitely cracked.
Get up..
Pain only makes you stronger.
Get. Up.
You rubbed your hands together to clear them of some of the loose gravel before gently dusting your face, wincing when the small rocks moved across the tenderly exposed meat of your cheek and chin. You could vaguely hear Frank’s voice, a muffled and distant sound that was hardly English. Your eyes were wide as you stared ahead, feeling that familiar uneasiness that came before you would pass out. You willed the lightheadedness away and took a staggered step forward, only to collapse immediately against Frank. You shook your head and blinked hard to clear your focus, to regain some sense of self but that only seemed to make it worse.
“Di..” You said to yourself, your voice hardly a whisper as you doubled over and supported yourself on your bent knees. “Dinah..”
You heard a rough slam against metal and the hushed anger of an argument behind you. No doubt Frank was tearing into Lieberman about the collision but you had to keep moving forward. You tapped your mask and heard a small crackle as the shattered lens tried to whir back to life.
You saw the outline of her figure along with a status on the car. It was ticking down to an explosion and if you didn’t do something, Dinah was going to die.
What the hell did you do?
What did I do? What did I do? I got- I got my hands dirty!
Are you stupid? Are you fucking stupid? Look what you did! - Another rough slam. - I swear- I swear to everything you care about, Lieberman. I swear to you, if you ever pull a goddamn stunt like that again, I will kill you.
You tried to hurry but once you straightened, the stab of your rib folded you in half and the blossoming bruise at your hip made you buckle. Instead, you hobbled and basically collapsed when you got to her side. You couldn’t carry her out. You could barely support your own weight at the moment, so you had to drag her. You worked to get her torso in your lap and your arms under hers and propped the foot of your okay leg against the side of the car. You kicked off and heard the scrape as the car shifted and she moved a few inches.
You groaned loudly and cursed to yourself.
It would take too long to do it that way. You’d both be caught in the explosion. You quickly recognized you needed help so you took a deep breath and whistled as loud as you could. It caught both of their attentions and Frank practically ran over to help you, but not before shoving Lieberman back into the truck and slamming the door on him.
Frank helped you to your feet and asked you to head back to the Mustang. You looked between him and Dinah, new guilt eating at your heart. How that feeling got out of the hole, you didn’t know, but it was something. Something that meant you were still human, that Livia wasn’t dead. And that was allegedly a good thing so you didn’t fight it off. Not that you had the strength to do so anyway.
He gave a small groan and gently pushed you away before he moved towards Dinah. You let out a breath of relief and managed to get yourself to the Mustang. You dropped into the front seat, and while the weight was taken off your hip, you winced immediately at the hit to your ribcage. Your hand went to the tender area and pressed softly, which was immediately followed by regret when the pain began to make you nauseous. Your other hand balled into a tight fist and hit the door beside you.
Using your shoulder, you dragged your mask down and clenched your jaw as the edges scraped along the newest cuts to your face. You blinked slightly as you looked over and saw Frank having a hushed interaction with Dinah. You wondered what they were talking about, but the bobbing of your head and flutter of your eyes made it hard to focus for too long. You had zoned out of the present moment and felt yourself slipping out of consciousness when the slam of the driver's door snapped you back.
“You alright over there?” Frank asked as he drove off carefully, not to jostle you around too much.
“Yeah… Yeah, I’m…” You answered quietly. “My head..”
“Goddamn idiot.” He muttered to himself and you dropped your head against the seat as you turned to face him. “I told him… I told him to get out of there. Now look what he did.”
“My fault…” You tried to defend him. “Was my idea…”
“Nah, don’t give me that shit. He should’ve- Hey.” He reached over and tapped under your chin and you jumped. “C’mon, you gotta stay focused.”
“It hurts...”
“I know, Princess.” When he got to a stop light, he reached over and gently removed your mask from around your neck and you noticed his fingertips came back stained red. Was that your blood?
“You need to call someone to stay with you tonight, okay? Karen, Nelson, one of your new boyfriends. Doesn’t matter. Call someone.”
“No… They can’t see me like this.” You argued and shifted, whining at the sharp pain running down the side of your body. “It’s pathetic.”
“If you don’t call someone, Imma take your phone and call all of ‘em.” He threatened.
“Frank..”
He only offered a stern look.
You reached for your phone and tried to focus past the new cracks in the screen protector. Your eyes widened for a moment before you found the contact. Your thumb hovered over the green icon to dial and you thought of what he would say when he saw you. He’d want to know what happened and who was involved. He’d want to go and hurt them back, to cause them twice the pain you were in. And in any other circumstance, you would’ve encouraged the revenge.
You had to mediate some of the damage so you took a deep, painful breath and let yourself give in to the pain in your head. It throbbed through your skull and you almost swore you could feel the swelling in your brain by the way sounds muffled to near quiet. If your eyes hadn’t been closed, you would’ve been convinced they were going to pop out of your skull. It continued to grow until the tears burned in your eyes, then it was suddenly gone. So you pressed the button and waited for Billy to answer.
“Hey, pretty lady.” He answered quickly, no doubt with a smile on his face. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Can you come over?” You asked simply, finally hearing the scratchiness of your voice.
“Yeah… Everything okay?”
“No.”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
You dropped your phone into your lap and gingerly prodded the side that hit the ground, counting the tender spots that would likely meld into one massive bruise by the morning. There was the idea of trying to heal it but with the strength it took just to rid yourself of the lurking concussion, you wouldn’t have been able to do it.
“Happy now?” You glared over as he parked in front of your building.
“The actually sounded lucid. What’d you do?”
“Just got rid of the head trauma.” You gestured to your head. “Everything else still hurts.”
“Thought you would’ve fixed your eye first then.” He snorted slightly.
“My eye?” Your brows furrowed and your fingers gingerly touched your lower lid. “What’s wrong with my eye?”
He flipped down the passenger sunshade and the small mirror was pointed at your chin. You saw all the little scrapes and dried blood as you adjusted the mirror to see your eyes. A stream of blood was crusted under your nose and had made its way into your mouth, staining your front teeth. You had bit the inside of your cheek at some point, which explained some of the blood you spat earlier that night. But your eye, the one that had been hidden behind the cracked lens, now mirrored that red stain as well. The white of that eye was a fair shade of red and the veins within it were even darker. As your focus darted back and forth, you noticed the movement didn’t hurt but the lids were shifting to a deep purple. You waved a hand to block and allow the light to hit your pupil, the small black circle adjusted and responded to the light.
“Fucking Lieberman.” You said to yourself and slammed the mirror back up. “I told him to stop.”
“Yeah, he’s a moron. Shouldn’t have brought him.” Frank answered.
“We got the job done.” You tried to shrug. “That’s what matters.”
“What if you had died, Liv? What? You expect me to be good with that?”
“No, but it’s not up to you.”
“So what? You lose Murdock and life ain’t worth livin’ anymore?”
“It worth it without Maria?” You challenged and almost instantly regretted it.
“Not at first.” He confessed. “But you and your band of dumbasses pushed me to keep going… Find a reason to keep going.”
“I'm not sure I want to.”
You got out after that and slammed the door, admittedly harder than necessary. You didn’t hear the engine taking off until you were entering your building. Once the door shut behind you, you practically collapsed against the wall and had to use the railing to haul yourself up to your apartment. On your way, you muttered small complaints and blamed Matt for choosing the top floor.
You practically fell inside and had to kick the door shut. You used the bench near the coat rack to get back to your feet and wobbled over to your couch, where you collapsed again. You fought out of your shoes and closed your eyes as the exhaustion began to creep into your muscles.
Damn, you were weak.
You were tempted to stay there, to sleep on your couch with hopes that rest would clear some of the bruises and the redness in your eye. But as your eyes were closing, you were practically slammed by the concern bursting into your building.
You had forgotten you invited Billy over.
With a loud groan, you pushed yourself to sit up. Every movement of your torso hurt so you had to move in short bursts. You reached across and lifted the opposite arm enough to reach and yank on the straps that kept the vest in place. The movement jostled your upper body and you had to contain the noise you wanted to make. You wiggled out of it finally and forced yourself to quickly get across the room to the closet. You threw it without a care and were just able to fix the lock back into place before the knocks sounded at your door.
You knew better than to yell anything so you hoped your silence would be enough. After a second, he came in. He didn’t bother to shut the door behind him because the sight of you was enough to draw all of his focus.
“Jesus, Livia.” He said quietly as he got closer, the concern practically latching onto you.
It made you feel warm inside but in a good way. Only it didn’t last long. Once you realized, you shoved it away.
One of his hands went to your slightly outstretched arm and the other moved gently to your cheek. You watched as his eyes scanned your face, brows furrowed with concern as his attention caught on your eye. You offered an apologetic smile and a small shrug, to which he sighed softly to himself. He took half a step back and looked down at your body, staring for a moment as if he were counting the tears in your clothes. You wondered if it was obvious that there was some protection since your chest and stomach were visibly unharmed, not considering the bruises you felt spreading across.
“Thanks for coming.” You said after a while of silence.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.” He answered and gently led you to your bathroom.
There he helped you out of your shirt, taking extra caution as he began to see the dark purple patches blossoming across your side and littering your back and you felt his concern growing beside you the same way. You sat on the floor of your tub and you were taunted with the memory of the last time, when you wanted to allow the water to take over and put you out of your misery.
You made sure to stay upright, leaning forward a bit so the water hit the back of your head and neck. Some streams fell down your face and it was stained red, mimicking the blood you saw in your nightmare. At that point, you closed your eyes.
“What happened?” He asked softly and you felt him tap your arm to hand you a washcloth.
“I…” You began and gently rubbed the wet fabric along your arm, knowing it came off stained with the blood and grime covering your body. “It all happened so fast.” You confessed slowly.
He gently took the cloth from you and gestured for you to lift your arm, which you could only get level with your shoulder before your aching muscles threatened to pull it back down. You appreciated the care he took, despite it playing on some deeply buried sense of vulnerability.
“It was a car crash.” You continued, pushing your wet hair out of your face. “I told the driver to stop but he just sped up.”
“Pretty bad for a crash.” He muttered.
“I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.”
“Was it a cab company? I’m sure you could sue.”
“Maybe, I don’t remember. I hit my head pretty hard.”
“I should take you to a hospital, Livs.” He said pointedly.
You took a chance and looked over, seeing him on the floor beside your tub with arms hanging on the ledge. He fiddled with the washcloth until he noticed you were looking at him. You also noticed small droplets of water bouncing off you and the tub floor, landing in various spots on his shirt, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m sure it won’t be that bad once I wash off the blood and dirt.” You tried with a small shrug. “For the most part, at least. I’ll be good as new in a few days.”
“It looks like half of your body is bruised, Beautiful.” He shook his head slightly. “It’s gotta be from more than a crash.”
“I couldn’t tell you anything… All I remember is the impact.”
“Have you eaten anything?” He changed the subject.
“No, actually. Can you order something? There’s some cash on my counter, I think.”
“I got it.” He smiled slightly. He handed you back the cloth and gently kissed your forehead before standing up. “Mexican?”
“What about pasta?” You suggested instead.
“Alright.” He chuckled.
“Thanks again.”
“You know I look after you.”
He left the bathroom after that, closing the door most of the way. You managed to get your feet and rid yourself of your now soaked and bloody clothes. You left them in a pile at the corner of your tub while you gingerly washed the rest of the residue from the night’s mission off your skin and out of your hair. When you got out, you were able to fully examine the extent of the damage and it was about what you expected.
The splotchy purple spread out across your side and stopped a little below your hip bone. It crept across the back of your shoulder and there was redness around the base of your skull. You had felt a few splits on the back of your head while you were washing your hair but you could fix those in the morning if they didn’t fix themselves overnight. The swelling in your cheek had gone down, as did some of the redness in your eye. Your muscles felt a bit less tense after sitting in the warm water but most movements still ached. Your biggest concern was your rib, which now that you could see, was a darker shade than the rest of the bruises. You gave it a gentle push and heard a small scraping sound which made you frown.
You headed into your bedroom, wrapped in your towel, and saw Billy unbagging the food. You didn’t even hear the knock from the delivery guy. You dug through your drawer for something to sleep in and settled on a zip-up - that wasn’t yours - and some shorts before you dropped onto the bed. You rummaged around the bedside table for the painkillers as Billy came in with a bowl and a bottle of water.
“You don’t wanna sleep on the other side?” He offered and your brows furrowed.
“I always sleep on this side.” You reasoned, which was technically a lie.
For as long as you had Billy over you slept on that side, but when you first moved in, that was Matt’s side. You switched once he died because you couldn’t stomach the thought of someone who wasn’t him being there. You didn’t want any other man’s cologne or bathroom products changing the smell of the sheets on that side, nor did you want some other man’s body reshaping the bed to fit him. Because that wasn’t their bed and it never would be.
That bed was Matt’s and it was yours. Without him, it only left you. And despite the war within yourself, despite the burning and the gap and the echoing rumbles and nightmares, you would stand firm on that boundary. No man would sleep on Matt Murdock’s side of the bed.
“Yeah, but that would have you laying on all the bruises. It’d be more comfortable.” He offered and while the gesture was genuine, you didn’t want it.
“I don’t like sleeping on my left side.” You countered easily as you stirred your pasta. “It’s harder for me to fall asleep so no, thank you.”
“But your right side-”
“Is banged up, I know.” You cut in. “But I can sleep on my back… I’m not switching.”
“Okay.” He nodded in concession. “Want me to stay?”
“Yeah, can you?”
“Of course.”
Back at the little hideout, Frank had been fuming since the minute he saw Livia hit the ground. He had got into it with Lieberman at the time but now that they were back and not worried about getting caught, he had some choice words for him.
“She told you to stop!” Frank said loudly. “And you didn’t! Everything that happened to her is your fault!”
“She told me to go back in the first place!” Lieberman defended.
“She didn’t tell you to ram the goddamn car!”
“I’m sorry, okay?! What do you want me to do?”
“I could do the same thing to you. How does that sound, huh?” Frank threatened. “Break your rib, crack your skull, bruises and cuts. Make it even.”
“Well what about you? And what you did.” Lieberman desperately tried to change the subject. “A trained agent should be able to extract themselves from a vehicle unassisted.”
“And I wouldn’t have had to do it if you hadn’t hit her in the first place.” Frank continued. “The Princess was gonna sit there and try to haul her out on her own anyways. You might be fine risking her life but I’m not.”
“So you think the fact that Agent Madani knows you’re alive isn’t an issue?”
“She was unconscious. What else was I supposed to do?”
“Our lives just got way more complicated!” Lieberman argued. “If Homeland Security enters your name into the system, how long until Agent Orange knows that?”
“Maybe you should’ve stuck to the plan.” Frank pressed, stepping closer. “Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to get tough.”
“You were driving right at her. Was this stupid, bullshit, macho game of chicken part of the plan? If they catch you, I don’t see my family.”
“They catch me, she’ll handle it.” Frank said easily. He may not have faith in most things, but he knew he could trust Livia. “Unless you get her killed first.”
“You know what-“
“No, you know what.” Frank said loudly. “See, you want me and her to get your shit done but then you bust my balls about it. You are relentless.. You nagged your wife like that? I mean, you sure that she wants you back?”
“Oh come on.” Lieberman rolled his eyes and chuckled, as if they were old friends that were joking. “C’mon.”
“I’m outta here.” Frank scoffed. “Maybe while I’m gone you can come up with new ways to antagonize me with your bullshit.”
“Where are you going?”
“Imma go make sure you didn’t kill the family I got left… And then I think I’ll go see your wife.”
The next morning, you bolted upright in the bed. A hand slammed against your sternum and the other supported your weight against the mattress. Your heavy breathing stung your side and the layer of sweat across your body had your clothes sticking to you. When you glanced down at your chest, all you could see was a slight indent from laying on the zipper throughout the night. You went to rub the sleep from your eyes and one of your hands came back wet.
Were you crying?
Nothing hurt any worse than yesterday. In fact, you felt more mobile. There was a faint throb throughout the various bruises but nothing was enough to make you cry.
Must’ve been the nightmare..
“You alright?” He said from beside you, placing a gentle hand on your leg.
“Yeah, I’m..” You answered, your voice scratchier than you expected so you cleared your throat. “Just a bad dream, Ma… Billy.”
He gave you a small smile before he came around to your side of the bed. He took your hands gently and pulled you to your feet before carefully unzipping the jacket. He stepped behind you and gently slid the jacket off your arms, gingerly pressing his thumb against the bruises.
“Smart to wear the zip up.” He commented.
“You just like that I’m not wearing a bra.” You joked.
“Just a bonus.” He chuckled. “Swelling’s gone down a lot.” He explained from behind you. “Bruises don’t look half as bad as yesterday but still bad.”
“Told you.” You shrugged the material up your shoulders and turned to face him while you fixed the zipper. “It’s the cuts that my body doesn’t heal quick enough.”
“Like these?” His finger traced where the scars on your shoulder would’ve been. He looked at you with a question in his eyes and for some reason, you decided to answer it
“Russians, the Ranskahov brothers.” You explained. “Looking for information on The Devil.”
“Did you have it?”
“Even if I did, I wasn’t gonna give it.”
“Sounds right.” He gave a small smile. “And here?”
A scar on your cheek that brought you back to that trainyard. You heard Elektra’s voice in your head, I knew you’d have fun.
“Yakuza. Wrong place at the wrong time.”
“This one?”
The scar leading into your hairline that represented the fight you thought killed the Man in the Mask, the night you temporarily aligned with Fisk.
“Corner of a wooden post.”
“Here?”
Your hip, the night you spent on the rooftop with Matt and Frank that ended with Grotto dead.
“Gunshot.”
“And here?”
He sat on the bed and ran his hand over the slice across your thigh. The night Frank Castle allegedly died.
“Some guy at a diner.”
There were plenty of other scars he could’ve asked about, though most weren’t as prominent as the ones he already acknowledged. You realized he didn’t ask about the ones that followed the shape of your mask. Either he didn’t notice those ones or he had his own idea for them.
“I think that’s the most you've ever said about your past.” He looked up at you with a small, almost proud smile as his hand found the back of your thighs and pulled you closer. “I think you’re starting to like me.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.” You answered with a smile of your own. “You’ve got your own stories, hmm?” Your fingers traced the scar on his shoulder.
Before Billy could answer you, a quick knock came at your door.
“You should put your pants on.” You patted Billy’s cheek before shuffling across your living room to open it.
But when you saw your friends on the other side, you wished you hadn’t.
“Woah.” Foggy said to himself. “Deja vu.”
Your brows furrowed but then you realized he must’ve showed up and had the door open to Matt in familiar shape. You moved back into your apartment and gestured for them to follow you in.
“What is it?” You asked simply, resting against the back of the couch.
“Well, Karen told me you were back and I wanted to see for myself.” Foggy said honesty. “What happened?”
“Car accident.”
Foggy scoffed slightly. “I used that line for M-“
“Don’t.” You cut in quickly. “Don’t say it.”
His brows furrowed in confusion but you saw the realization cross his face as you heard Billy coming out of your room. You sighed to yourself as the awkward tension began to fill the room.
“I gotta get to the office.” Billy began and you glanced over your shoulder at him. “Call me if you need anything.”
“Yeah.” You nodded. “Thanks again.”
“Anytime.” He smiled. “Nice to see you guys.” He nodded to your friends before he took off.
“That’s really why you hadn’t called?” Foggy asked a minute after the door shut.
“Yeah, clearly.” You rolled your eyes.
“I guess I didn’t realize you had replaced me, your friend since college, with some guy.”
“Has nothing to do with Billy.” You shook your head. “I just didn’t wanna deal with all of this.” You gestured vaguely to the two standing in front of you.
“All of this?” Foggy repeated loudly. “All of this is because we care about you! But you keep choosing to jump into bed with some guy you barely know? You almost look worse than I ever saw Matt and that guy is the one you call?”
“Yeah, everyone says I’m supposed to stay connected to my friends. That’s what Curtis tells us, that we can have a fight and it doesn’t have to be the end.”
“It doesn’t.” Foggy agreed. “I’m always here for you, Livia, but I can’t help if you don’t tell me anything.”
“It’s ironic that I’m the one who needs help, huh?” You gave a dry chuckle while the words started to formulate on your tongue before you could try to stop them. “Even when I say I’m fine, I can’t tell if I’m happy or I’m sad… But no one ever talks about the aftermath. No one ever talks about being the problem and trying to change everything that other people hate about yourself.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t just run around killing people and call yourself a human being.” You threw his old words at him. “You and Matt and Karen, you all hated that I’m a killer.”
His heavy sigh almost made you laugh.
“That’s what I am, Foggy. I’m a murderer. And I knew all three of you would look at me and wonder if I would ever hurt you, so I tried to change it. Just sit back and be the good little lawyer, right? But it’s still not enough, is it?”
“So what?” He shrugged slightly. You could tell from his tone and body language that he was trying to not start a fight, but your constant pressure and challenges were making it hard for him to keep his cool. “You keep Billy Russo around because he doesn’t care to see that you’re more than that? Does he even know about everything?”
“No, but at least he doesn’t flinch away from me!” You shouted as the burn under your skin grew and pulsed in your various bruises. A strange expression crossed Foggy’s feature, a mix between annoyance, regret, and apologetic, yet you couldn’t recall hearing an apology for the reaction. “He doesn’t tiptoe around me or treat me like I’m an explosive just ticking down.. He cares about me, too. I think.”
“For argument’s sake, let’s say he does, okay? It wouldn’t be the way I do. You are the closest friend I have left and I’m not gonna let you push away the person who knows you better than anyone else.”
“You don-”
“I do.” He cut in. “And you’re not gonna convince me otherwise.”
“You know part of me. You don’t know anything about the Widow.”
“What really happened last night, Livvy?” Foggy asked. His tone was gentle but there was a slight urgency.
“Like I said, car crash.” You shrugged. “We intercepted a Homeland sting and the driver slammed the Homeland agent’s car. I told him not to but he was a goddamn idiot and did it anyway. I went out the window, rolled maybe a hundred feet.”
“I’m sorry.” Karen finally spoke and you nearly forgotten she was there. “Homeland? As in Homeland Security? Livia, when I asked you to-“
“You asked her?” Foggy cut in quickly. “Karen!”
“I didn’t think it would get to this!” She argued before turning to you. “What about..”
“Wasn’t the driver.” You shook your head. “Was the one to get me home, actually. He’s fine.”
She let out a breath of relief before Foggy spoke again.
“So we’re all just okay with the fact that she’s being Exodus again?” He asked in shock.
“I’m not… Not fully at least. I don’t know who I am right now so you should go before this gets any worse.”
“I’m not leaving.” Foggy said firmly, dropping his briefcase on your table. “Not until we settle this.”
“Fine.” You said with the same tone as Karen ducked around the corner to answer a phone call. “Say what you wanna say but as far as I care, it’s settled.”
“I don’t want to fight with you about this. Come on, you saw the toll it took on me and Matt.”
“Matt this, Matt that. Matt’s dead.” You spat and the words even wounded you. Before the ache could settle, that deep hole in your heart swallowed the incoming despair. “And part of me died with him. You want your friend from college back or even her-“ You threw a hand towards the closet. “-but neither of them is what’s left.”
“So what? You don’t want us around anymore?”
“I just want to-“ You began before Karen came back and she was practically shaking with uncertainty. “Karen?”
“That um..” She began, fiddling with her phone. “That was Homeland Security. She wants me to come in tomorrow.”
“Was this she Agent Madani?” You asked tightly.
“Mhmm..”
“Shit.” You sighed and moved as quickly as you could to get back to your room so you could change. At least put on a real shirt. “I’ve gotta go. Lock up when you leave.”
You grabbed your keys and purse before shoving your feet into the first pair of tennis shoes you saw. Your friends were talking over each other, asking questions that you didn’t care to answer as you hurried out and down the stairs. Your leg buckled a few times but you pushed through it to get to your car. As you were driving, you got the same call asking you to come in tomorrow.
“Guys!” You called as you hurried into the room. “I’ve got news, that could be good or bad.”
“Jesus Christ.” Frank grumbled before he rushed to your side, reaching for your arm and you leaned into him. “The hell are you doing here?”
“I just-“ You took a deep breath and the sharp pain in your side ignited. “I got a call from Agent Madani. She wants me to come in and talk to her tomorrow.”
“What about?” Lieberman spun quickly in his chair, so fast he almost fell out of it. “Shit.. Uh, Exodus I am-“
“Shut your mouth before I kick your teeth in.” You threatened. “This is because you didn’t fucking listen to me. If you ever pull something like that, I’m collecting the pound of flesh I’m owed. Literally. Ты меня понимаешь?” (Do you understand me?)
Frank chuckled beside you and gave your arm a small squeeze in approval. Lieberman looked at you with a wide-eyed, fearful expression and nodded quickly, undoubtedly not knowing what you said to begin with.
“Anyways.” You said pointedly. “About Madani. I can only guess it’s about you.”
“Yeah, well, she was unconscious in an upside-down car. I kinda had to.” Frank shrugged slightly.
“I know… And I know you did it because I couldn’t so thanks.”
“Besides, you’re good at coming up with shit on the fly. Use that fancy law degree.”
“I’m still irritated that you blew it, yknow.”
“Yeah yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “And we got dinner plans for Sunday. Sarah Lieberman invited me and my cousin who went by looking for me the other day.”
At that, you grinned and Frank smiled back.
“I needed a way in that didn’t look insane… What’s the next move for us on this end?”
“Gunner Henderson.” Lieberman answered. “So far I’ve got that he lives completely off the grid. No phone, no internet, no running water.”
“Where?”
“Kentucky.”
“Road trip.” You nodded before turning to Frank. “Could be fun.”
“We’ll leave when you get back from Homeland.” Frank said with a small nod. “Give you a little more time to get yourself right.”
“It’s just bruises.” You rolled your eyes. “And this eye thing.”
“Oh yeah?” His brows raised and you felt his free hand feeling around your side. You opened your mouth and reached for his wrist but he had already found the break and pressed on it with a mild pressure. You cried out and fell against him, digging your nails into his skin. “Thought it was just bruises.” He mocked.
“I’m fine.” You said through gritted teeth. “I’ll figure it out.”
“This guy isn’t a joke, Princess.” Frank continued. “If he doesn’t want us there, I don’t have time to look after you.”
With that, you felt something ignite under your skin. You forced yourself to stand straight and balled your hands into tight fists, feeling your nails digging into your palms. The sensation shifted from an underlying burn to a thick feeling on top of your skin, as if someone had drawn out your hot blood and left it across your body. It coated every inch of skin that was bruised thrummed throughout neighboring nerves and you felt your breathing increasing as the heat rose.
It hurt. Every nerve in your body felt like you were holding a lighter to it, burning right through it. Every muscle in your body tightened and tried to force out the heat. You almost thought you could feel the shift in your rib cage as the bone reset but you convinced yourself you were overthinking.
You rolled your shoulders slightly and felt no pain in the movement. You shifted your weight between your feet and the new angle of your hips felt like nothing.
“Good as new.” You shrugged and lifted your shirt, turning to show your side was no longer a deep purple. Admittedly, there was a slight discoloration across the patches that had been covered in bruises just moments ago, but it was definitely better than when you had woken up.
“You’re a pain in my ass.” Frank muttered. “Still didn’t fix your eye.”
“Thanks.” You offered a sarcastic expression. “I don’t need you to look after me, Frank.”
“Yeah… You expect me to believe you’re gonna look after yourself?”
“I expect you to understand that I don’t need you breathing down my neck and micromanaging me. I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“Bullshit.” He scoffed. “I left you alone for one goddamn minute last night and look what happened. You let this dumbass almost get you killed.”
“Are we still-“ Lieberman tried.
“Shut up!” You said firmly and pointed at him. He raised his hands in surrender before you turned back to Frank. “It was one goddamn mistake that wasn’t even mine! Can’t you let it go?”
“One mistake.. One mistake? A mistake is turning down the wrong street. A mistake is stepping on your own shoelaces. A mistake isn’t rolling across a hundred feet of pavement and breaking your rib!”
“I don’t need you to look after me!” You shouted.
“My family is gone, Alivia! They are gone because of what I know! Do you understand that?”
“I may not have had any blood family, but I’ve lost the people closest to me, too. Red is gone because he was worried about me! He was my family, Frank!” You spat back. “So yes, I understand that!”
“I can’t let that happen to you. Got it?” He said firmly, though it was more gentle than his previous tone. “I can’t.”
“Y’know what, maybe the mistake was coming here to help you in the first place.”
“Yeah maybe.”
“Understand that I am not your responsibility.” You said simply. “You keep acting like this and you’ll get yourself killed, just like he did. And I can’t let that happen to you. Got it?”
Summary: Temporary alliances form on one side before fighting off an ambush from the other. All the while, dots are connecting for more than one player as the game grows more and more dangerous.
“Ms. Yersova.” She smiled as she came into the conference room. You stood from your chair and shook her hand, noticing a slight wince as she sat across from you. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I’m acting SAC Dinah Madani.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” You nodded. “I heard about the crash at the docks. I commend you for coming into the office so soon but I guess it’s no surprise as you’re the acting SAC.”
“You heard?” Her brows raised.
“Word travels fast between bureaus.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “Of course, you recently completed FBI training at Quantico. How was that?”
“It was good. I’m excited to start and get to work with my partner.”
“You have a partner already?”
“He recommended me. I wouldn’t have pursued the FBI if I hadn’t met him.”
“Sounds like a good foundation for a partnership.”
“I’m sure it will be, but I don’t think that’s what you called me in for, is it?”
“No.” She shook her head with a small smile as if she had been caught. “It’s about your previous employment.”
“Oh, Anvil!” You nodded, feigning understanding. “Of course. Billy told me about the Homeland group that came through a few days ago. He said you really stuck out.”
“Um-“
“If this is about Billy-“ You leaned your elbows on the table as if you two were high schoolers gossiping at the lunch tables. “-I say you should go for it.” You continued when you noticed she was taken by surprise. “I don’t blame you, he’s real good-looking and you’re beautiful. And, between us, the sex is good too if you’re interested in that.”
“Ms. Yersova.”
“You guys had good banter the other night so you should go out with him again, on a real date.”
“I’m sorry, the other night? He told you about that?”
“No, I saw you two.” Your brows furrowed as you played dumb and leaned back in your seat. “I walked right past you? …. This isn’t about Billy, is it?”
“Your employment at Nelson and Murdock, actually.”
“Oh… That feels like a lifetime ago.”
“Wasn’t too long ago.”
“A lot has changed since then.”
“Since college too, I assume.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, naturally, I looked into your academics, and may I say, you’re brilliant. Columbia Law, summa cum laude, alongside the two partners at the firm you’d later work at. Only you took some time between your senior semesters. Completed your degree online and you were able to skip internship. A near-perfect Bar score as well. Looking at it all together, it’s truly impressive.”
“Thank you.” You nodded. “Although I’m not sure why the firm is relevant. It’s disbanded. Franklin Nelson is thriving at HC&B and Matthew Murdock is on a Catholic Retreat at the Vatican.”
“Are you religious?”
“You go ahead and build God yourself then we’ll talk religion.” You scoffed. “Any God isn’t relevant here anyway, right? Considering the whole Church and State separation.”
“Hmm.” She nodded before coming around to your side of the table. “Before Columbia, there’s practically nothing. Like you didn’t exist.”
“Yes, well, my father dumped me at an orphanage overseas.”
“Your mother didn’t protect you?”
“Died when I was an infant, may she rest in peace. Hence the whole orphan thing”
“You were a ghost before law school, Ms. Yersova. Forgive me, Agent Yersova. And yet you have made quite a life for yourself.”
“What are you implying?”
“Someone intentionally wanted to keep your existence a secret… Leaves room to speculate on what you were before, but no one ever seemed to.” You saw her focus stay on your eye for a moment and you mentally cursed yourself for not having dealt with it that morning. “Yet you’ve still gotten everything you wanted out of life, didn’t you?”
“You can ask Mr. Russo about that. He can give you the gist, off the record of course. Just as I assume this entire conversation is.”
“Anvil hires ex-military.” She challenged rather than acknowledging your last comment.
“Yes.”
“You were never a soldier.”
“Correct, I never served in the US Military or any nation’s traditional military.”
“But you have some training?”
“Enough to get in at Anvil and be one of his most trusted/most consistent and earn his respect from the first time I met him. But with all due respect, Agent Madani, what does this have to do with Nelson and Murdock?”
“You’re an interesting woman, Agent Yersova.”
“Yes, you’ve said that.” You said sharply. “Please make your point, Madani, or I’m leaving.”
“I just wonder why you’d throw away such a promising career on the Castle case.”
“And this conversation makes me wonder why you’d want to disturb a dead man.”
“I’ve read through the transcripts and you were a real powerhouse in that courtroom. You were a fierce advocate for the man. Your work ethic is rather admirable.”
“It was my idea to take the case in the first place. It was only right to give it my best.”
“Why take it at all? I’m sure the partners didn’t agree.”
“Not at first.” You agreed. “But it wasn’t supposed to go to trial. Our plan was to negotiate a better plea deal but Frank had other plans. Why is any of this relevant?”
“What interested me the most was the testimony of the medical examiner that got thrown out.” She flipped open her folder and trailed her finger down the page as if she was searching for something before tapping the page a few times.
“And how do you know about that?”
“Transcripts.”
“The testimony was stricken from official record.”
“Public record, maybe. A case that major would’ve had everything available to departments like mine or yours, if you talk to the right people. What stood out to me was the woman he mentioned, wearing a mask with an accent. The woman Mr. Tepper said coerced him into his confession.”
Elektra. Even in death, she haunted you. Same way Matt did.
“Yes.” You nodded as the Midland explosion rumbled deep in your chest when she shut the folder. “But the defense had nothing to do with that. To this day we have no idea who that woman was nor do any of us care at this point. We’ve moved on.”
“Would it be fair to assume it was a local vigilante? I’ve heard there’s one who fits that description, worked alongside Daredevil - who you know well - and even did a short stint with the Punisher.”
“Excalibur. No wait, that’s the sword.. Was it Extremis?”
“Exodus.” She corrected.
“Right! I don’t know, I heard she died.”
“Did you know her?”
“Allegedly.” You shrugged.
“And how exactly does that work?”
“The last time I saw either of them alive, they came to me and said there was some organization targeting their loved ones. They made it seem like they knew me without their suits but never said their names. Then they fought their fight and everyone else that was hiding out with me had their friends come back but those two never did… Nothing was ever uncovered from the rubble either.”
“Rubble?” Her head tilted slightly.
“Some building went down a few months ago. I’m sorry, but I’m still lost. I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”
“Why advocate for Frank Castle at all? And if Exodus was your friend, why throw her to the wolves in the trial?”
“Are we still off the record?”
“Of course.” She gestured to the lack of cameras in the room.
“Frank Castle was the victim of a sting operation gone back. When DA Reyes was in office, she planned to catch the Blacksmith, who turned out to be his old C.O., at Central Park. Only she neglected to - Actually, she opted to not clear civilians, which ended with Lisa, Maria, and Frankie Castle being shot dead on what was supposed to be a celebratory outing. Frank Castle endured a tragedy, Agent Madani. Now it’s not justification for a full-blown killing spree across my neighborhood but it’s some sort of explanation as to why he was so goddamned angry.”
“And are you angry, Agent Yersova?” She asked carefully.
“Yeah, I am.” You said after a minute of contemplation. “I’m angry that he’s gone. I’m angry that my firm fell apart. And I’m angry that I’m here, digging up stories on a dead man that I let down.”
The heat that lived in your veins rose and you felt it burning through your skin. You had to take a few steadying breaths to force it back where it belonged.
“I’m sorry to have upset you.” She offered, and there was an attempt at sincerity, but you could tell it was learned. Forced, even. “I didn’t know it was so important to you.”
“At Columbia and Quantico - They probably talk about it at the FLETC too, body language. Facial expressions. Inflections in people’s voices. Helps to figure out if someone’s lying and whether you can trust the words they’re saying. Almost everybody has a tell and I see one from you when you talk about Frank Castle. Like a kid in a candy store, just waiting to hear the right words from her parents… What words are you hoping to hear, Agent Madani?”
“Did he ever tell you about his time in Afghanistan? Specifically Kandahar.” She asked finally and you had to keep your smirk to yourself. For an acting SAC, she was easy enough to work. “I was in Kandahar myself before this. Turns out Frank Castle might’ve been the man I needed to talk to.”
“What’s important about Kandahar?”
“Do you know anything?”
“Depends on what you’re looking for.”
“Ahmed Zubhair, a man I worked with. Tortured and executed by his unit. Tell me, what kind of man was Frank Castle?”
“Decent. Angry, but honest. I had nothing to fear from him. He treated me with respect and I did the same. And I regret how I let him down… If Kandahar is something that could’ve had something to do with what happened to Frank’s family, I’ll see what I can find.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.” She shook her head slightly. “I doubt your SAC at the FBI will let you open a case based on intuition and a personal stake.”
“You’re not asking.” You said simply. “When you talk to Billy about me, which I know you will, I’m sure he can fill you in on some of my capabilities outside of my bureau… If his old C.O. was behind Central Park because of Kandahar, I owe it to him and his family to find out why and find out who pulled Schoonover’s strings.”
“You think there was someone above him?” Her eyes lit up.
“Operation Cerberus wasn’t forgotten in the records.” You clarified. “It had to be on purpose. Someone kept it off. And that leaves room to speculate, remember?”
“Do you have any leads?”
“I will. I was a ghost before Columbia for good reason. Oh, and feel free to call if you need any sort of freelance in your investigation.”
“Off the record?”
“It’s how I do my best work. Enjoy your speculation in the meantime.” You shrugged with a small smile as you stood and she gave you a slight smirk and a nod.
You and Madani would likely not find yourselves being friends by the end of your endeavors. Her mission ran counter to your own, though slight parallels existed. By seemingly agreeing to get her information about Kandahar, it allowed you a certain leeway regarding your own business. She wouldn’t be keeping a watchful eye over you so long as she believed you were on her side. And by planting the ideas of Billy’s knowledge of your past, you knew that it would create a direct line as to what she was asking and what she was being told.
The only way you would’ve crafted the situation any better would be if she was running solely on speculation and didn’t know Frank was alive. But you saw it in her eyes, that spark of a reignited passion project. Just days before she, like the rest of the world, knew Frank Castle to be dead. But now having seen his face, heard his voice, she couldn’t believe that ruse any longer. And that knowledge just might be the bump in your otherwise unobstructed path.
Before heading back to Lieberman’s hideout, you stopped back at your apartment. You pulled your gym bag from your room and dumped the contents across your bed. You took it over to the locked closet and took a deep breath, noticing your hand was shaking as you reached for the lock. You forced the hesitation to that familiar gap in your chest and opened it to reveal your bloodied clump of material, your case, and Matt’s case - kicked into the back corner.
You went straight for yours and dug through until you found what you were looking for, one of your very first suits. One before the alterations and additional protections. One that had the bright red emblem of the Red Room still embedded at the neck. It was a suit designed from a time before you were a vigilante before Exodus was ever created. It was born before Alivia had her own identity, before she met Matt and Foggy. The suit was created for the nameless, faceless Widow. The spy, the child raised to be an assassin. One that was good at it and hated herself for it. The suit was what your father traded his daughter for. The suit killed the little girl your mother gave birth to, erased her name, just to put a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. The suit, what it truly stood for, might’ve been all that was left for you.
You shoved it into the bag with a set of Bites, your other mask last used at Midland, boots, belt packed with all your usual tricks, and two handguns with an additional clip for each. You paused at your two torso protections, the recent vest newly adorned with scratches or the original long-sleeve top that was a gift from Matt before your first fight with Fisk. Neither felt right so you threw them both to the side. You tossed it on the table before rummaging around the kitchen to put together a few sets of to-go meals. Whether or not Frank had pissed you off, it was going to be a long drive so you made quick burritos and wrapped them up before placing them in the bag, along with your car charger for your phone. You grabbed a couple of waters and sodas, even threw in a couple of energy drinks for good measure, before heading over.
“Oh.” Lieberman said as you approached the two stocking the van. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I started something. I need to see it through.” You answered. “So are we doing this or what?”
Frank made a small noise in agreement and nodded for you to get in. He moved over to the driver's side and Lieberman offered you the passenger. You shook your head and dropped your bag into the back before you climbed up, yanking the doors shut behind you.
You were quiet for most of the drive, trying to drown out Lieberman’s blabbering about anything and everything. You laid out on your back and saw a message from Billy asking you to call him. You sat up quickly and turned to see the guys were now talking about the root of the word Cerberus. You scooted to the far corner and dialed the number, taking one more glance to ensure no one was paying attention to you.
“Hey, Pretty Lady. How you feeling today?” He asked when he answered and you noticed you almost smiled.
“Uh, yeah, I’m doing fine.” You answered quietly, though your voice earned a questioning look from Frank in the rearview. You just waved him off and he rolled his eyes. “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to see how you were feeling cause I just had something come across my desk that I thought you might wanna head up.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Thing is, it’s an out-of-town job.”
“Since when do you take those on?”
“Since it’s an old friend.” You knew he would’ve shrugged with a little head tilt. “He’s got some property in Kentucky he needs to clear out.”
“Sounds like a job for the Sheriff’s department out there, not you.”
“Look, he came to me so I’m assuming he tried all that.”
“Assuming…” You nodded to yourself. “So you didn’t bother to ask?”
He sighed slightly and you pictured the face he was making. Things with Billy were getting too familiar, too predictable. That small patch of vulnerability on your heart liked it and wanted to keep it, but the hardened reality urged you to push away.
“I guess it doesn’t matter. If it was a little closer, I’d do it but I’m not trying to go that far right now.” You said simply, which was true. You didn’t want to go to Kentucky but that’s where the job took you.
“Hey, not a problem.” He answered, no doubt with a smile. “I just had to offer it to my best girl.”
“As if there was anyone else. You gonna take it instead?”
“No, I’ll just let the guys run it themselves. I can’t get away right now.”
You nodded to yourself in slight relief, knowing you wouldn’t have to worry about him showing up out of the blue and being a problem. It did interest you a bit more as to who would be able to pull Schoonover’s strings and get to Billy. You knew it had to be Agent Orange but it did nothing to answer who the hell that man was.
“You still there?” He asked and you realized you had been quiet for too long.
“Yeah, sorry. Just thinking.” You admitted. “I gotta go, alright? I got some work I gotta get started on.”
“No worries. Take care of yourself for me, yeah?”
“Mhmm.. Bye.”
“The hell was all that?” Frank asked as soon as you had set your phone in your lap. You pulled your knees up and blew out a sigh, pushing your hands through your hair. You glanced over and saw him looking between the road and you from the rearview. You simply shrugged and scooted to be closer to them.
You leaned between the seats and saw Lieberman pass Frank a packet of tuna, at which you made a face. You were wildly confused as to why he would bring something so cheap and seeing Lieberman pull out a full sub made it worse for you. The meal choice confused Frank as well, and you had to laugh at the response from them both.
“Where’d you get that?” Frank asked in bewilderment, almost jealous as well.
“I made it.” He answered honestly.
“What do you mean, you made it?”
“Yeah... This stuff was in the fridge.”
“You make me one?”
“No... No, I thought you liked that stuff.”
You reached between them and grabbed the tuna out of Frank’s hand. Before he could complain, you replaced it with one of the burritos from your bag. He looked between the new food and you before he nodded in thanks. You offered a small smile and then dropped a water bottle into the cup holder. Lieberman looked between you and Frank with a clear question in his eyes, though if you had to guess what he was wondering, you’d have a list a mile long.
You knew how odd your dynamic with Frank would seem from the outside, both within and outside the law. As vigilantes, you two were partners who held each other in a certain respect. It was similar to you and Daredevil but with more aligned viewpoints. As regular people, you two were allegedly just a lawyer and her client, hardly friends or even acquaintances. So when looking at the way you two would interact, ensuring the other was alive and taking care of each other, it was something to question. How did you two get so close? Why were you two the seemingly only exception for the other? And realistically, there was no real answer other than you were too stubborn to let Frank, or the Punisher for that matter, do something stupid in your neighborhood alone.
Maybe it started as damage control or a way to piss off Matt and Daredevil, but it grew into a real friendship. A real partnership. It grew to be equivalent to family.
Lieberman talked some more during the drive, most of which you tuned out. Instead, you ate your food and rubbed the temple of your red eye with the intent of clearing it away. You almost felt the repair and you pictured it like using a squeegee on a window or using a magnet to play with flecks of iron. As your fingers moved in small circles, the redness would follow like a little trail until it diluted away.
You took a short nap on the drive as well before you all arrived. You ensured to kick the guys out before you changed into your suit. As you unfolded the material, your retractable fell into your lap. You hadn’t even realized you had grabbed it but there it was, tangled in the fabric of your suit and still caked in the blood of the Hand. You thought for a moment if you had done it on purpose but at that point, you didn’t think it mattered so you slipped it onto your wrist. Fitting all of your equipment into place felt like you were fixing the puzzle pieces of your life, replacing what seemingly always should’ve been. As you were finishing, you wondered absently if your bones had reshaped to allow the perfect little niches for your Bites and mask.
“I don’t wanna hear from you unless you hear from me, got it?” Frank warned as he took the walkie from Lieberman and you came around the van.
“Turn it on.” You nodded as your finger slid to your scar. The device beeped in your ear and you kept a light pressure as you shifted along until the static died and you were in the loop. “Got it, thanks.”
“Stay in the van.” He pointed to Lieberman before he began climbing the fence. “No getting your hands dirty this time.”
“Or trying to get someone killed.” You muttered as you hauled yourself over. You tapped your mask upon landing and followed behind Frank.
You were thinking about telling him that you had a theory an Anvil team would be sent in, but there was no good way to explain it. Explaining how you knew meant you had to explain your relationship with Billy, which meant he would connect the dots that you were sleeping with one of his closest friends, and that may or may not go over well. So you kept your mouth shut about it but your head remained on a swivel. You listened for anything that would cut into your communications with Lieberman or anything unusual through your lenses.
Your walk to the cabin was mostly clear - and unsettlingly quiet - save for the lone trip wire. When you two got to the small cabin, Frank began to rid himself of his backpack and gun. He gestured for you to do the same but you hesitated. You didn’t like the idea of being defenseless against whatever team Billy was sending your way. You knew you would have to kill them first, and the team likely would’ve expected to die or at least fight, so you didn’t necessarily feel bad about what was going to happen. But you did feel a little guilty for keeping it to yourself, for no other reason than to keep Billy your little secret.
With a small sigh, you untucked your guns and set them with Frank’s. You took the blade out of your belt as well, but you slipped a finger around your wrist and found the retractable blade was in its position. With your Bites and that, you should be fine to get back to your gun. You turned to Frank and put your hands up in slight surrender, to which he gestured to your wrists. You simply shook your head and moved back to his side.
You were adjusting your lens to see further when it picked up the faint outline of a figure far off. You tried to make it clearer and you could see the shape of a weapon. Your brows furrowed as you stared when you realized it was a bow and arrow. You grabbed Frank’s sleeve to move him but the arrow pierced him before you could. A secondary arrow zipped by and dragged across your chest, slicing a shallow gash from one collarbone to the other, taking a chunk of your shoulder with it.
You shoved him behind one of the bigger trees before you gripped the arrow with one hand and braced his shoulder with the other. He groaned in pain but ultimately nodded for you to do it. You yanked hard and the arrow snapped. He yelled loudly and you looked over your shoulder to see the figure was aiming at you two again. You cursed to yourself, grabbed the front of Frank’s jacket, and yanked him to the side. As you two were moving, the arrow came whizzing past your shoulder and buried itself at what you assumed would’ve been the center of your back.
“Gunner, goddamit, it’s Frank Castle.” Frank tried again after ducking behind another tree. You peeked around and saw Gunner coming closer, setting sights on you two again. You looked at Frank for confirmation but he held steady. You would just have to trust him.
“Come on. I’m not a part of it, brother. I never have been.” He continued.
You watched carefully and felt his slight hesitation. Despite it all, he still trusted Frank. And you could use that. You pulled that to the forefront, allowing that trust to be his focus. You also projected Frank’s trust in you and the two began to meld easily enough. You couldn’t completely beat the suspicion so you didn’t try to. You just had to make sure he didn’t fire another arrow because you weren’t gonna be able to dodge it.
“Сукин сын.” You said to yourself before stepping around the tree with your hands up in surrender. (Son of a bitch.)
“I know you don’t know me and you have no reason to trust me.” You said simply as you dropped to your knees, hands still raised as his arrow set a course to the center of your chest. If you said one wrong thing, you’d be dead. “A woman in a black suit and a mask shows up out of the blue, I wouldn’t trust me either if I were you.”
“The hell are you doing?” Frank asked in a hushed tone as he got to your side, falling into the same position you were in.
“Trying something.” You answered before returning your focus to Gunner. “You don’t have to trust me, but I’m willing to bet you trust him… And he wouldn’t bring me if I wasn’t on his side. That’s gotta be worth something.”
Gunner looked between you and Frank, an uncertainty in his eyes but his hands never faltered as Frank gave a quick explanation of what brought you two there. The arrow was still on course for your chest and you could picture how quick it would come, if it would be the same as feeling Elektra’s weapon in your dream. But the piercing never came. Instead, you heard the sound of the arrow relaxing and footsteps coming closer.
You helped Gunner get Frank to lean against one of the trees.
“I’m sorry about your family.” Gunner said honestly and you kept glancing around, anxiously awaiting for the figures to reveal themselves in your lenses.
“Agent Orange.” You said simply. “You know anything about who he is? Maybe a name.”
“No.” Gunner answered.
“So why’d you do it, man? Why’d you… Why’d you make the tape?” Frank asked and while Gunner explained it, you focused on your belt. You found the gauze you kept and unrolled some to pack his wound. You gently reached under his jacket and carefully stuffed the hole with the tissue when Gunner’s words stole your attention and your hands froze.
“They were putting bags of drugs in his body.” He explained.
“That’s why he was never caught.” You realized. “When she was first trying to catch him, the DA at the time didn’t know how he was getting that much product into the country… I never would’ve guessed.”
“Treated him like an empty carcass.” Gunner continued and he was both disgusted and heartbroken over it. “Jim and all the rest of them in there.”
“Who was it?” You continued when you noticed Frank was growing tense. “Who was in the room, Gunner?”
“The colonel, Bennett - the guy who ran the mortuary - and Orange… I didn’t know who was in on it. I didn’t know who I could trust.”
You heard the feedback before you saw them. When the high-pitched sound rang in your ears, you spun behind you to see the incoming helicopter.
“We gotta go.” You said quickly, adjusting your lens to try and see further. “Now.”
“They with you?” Gunner asked as he hauled Frank to his feet.
“Shit, no.” He answered. “Livia, who are they?”
“A problem.” You muttered and saw the row of soldiers coming your way. “They’ve got body cams, live feedback but I can’t figure out where it’s going.”
“Time to go to work.” Frank told you, offering a small nod to you. You returned the gesture and peeled away from the group, habitually reaching for a gun, only to come up empty.
You cursed quietly when you remembered that you had ditched them back near the cabin as a show of allegiance. You sighed quietly and armed your Bites while you ducked behind a fallen tree trunk. While remaining hidden, you scanned the area to see a trio coming your way. You noted the rifles in each of their hands as they stayed on alert as they crept forward. You had to acknowledge that they had the weaponry advantage but you had the element of surprise. And you were rather resourceful.
When the first one landed in front of you, you hooked one foot around his ankle and slammed the other into the side of his knee. There was a sick ripping sound as he collapsed with a loud scream. You moved quickly to cover his mouth with your knee and the more weight you leaned onto him, you began to hear a crunch and you weren’t sure if it was the branches beneath you or his jaw.
You saw the knife handle at the soldier’s belt so you snatched it quickly. First, you slammed the butt end against the body cam and the lens shattered, but your mask told you it was still functioning. You shrugged it off and raised your arm in anticipation of the next soldier. When he finally showed, you flicked the blade quickly and it buried itself at the base of his throat and a deep red stream of blood shot out. Instincively you closed your eyes and the warm liquid splattered across your cheek and mask. You wiped it away quickly and noticed the soldier beneath you had stopped squirming.
You climbed off and removed his rifle, slinging the weapon over your own shoulder before leaning closer to the body cam.
“Наслаждаетесь шоу?” You said lowly, seeing the red light blink to show that it was currently being watched from the other end. “Не волнуйся.” You smiled slightly as that thick stream of blood trailed down. “Мы тоже придем за тобой.” (Enjoying the show? Don’t worry. We’ll come for you, too.)
You heard the crunch of footsteps against the leaves and lifted the gun quickly. You lined your shot and as soon as the third soldier faced you, you fired straight through his eyeball and he fell limp immediately. You pushed yourself up, nudging the first soldier with your foot and getting no response. You gave a small, indifferent shrug before you began searching for Frank and Gunner. There was a sharp whistle and you saw the man waving you over.
You took your position next to Frank, Gunner stationed on the opposite side, and you three began firing against the next wave from the team. You and Frank alternated shots, popping out from your covers for seconds at a time to take someone down. Gunner leaned over to fire an arrow and you heard the shout. You glanced over and saw a second shot pierce his chest.
“I got it.” You said quickly, drawing Frank’s attention. You nodded towards Gunner before you two switched positions, allowing Frank to go to his friend. Though Frank was stubborn and refused to stay down, which got him shot in the side. “Get some cover. I’ll find you.”
You nudged him aside with your shoulder and jumped over the fallen tree, landing in a low crouch as the shots hit the tree. You kept your head down until the bullets paused and you fired back, hearing two different voices shouting. You surveyed the area quickly and saw two more coming at you, hopping over a log not too far away from you.
You hurried to your feet and got behind a tree, lining the weapon with your body to keep it hidden. You flicked out the blade at your wrist and looked over to see neither soldier had noted your position. Either that or they didn’t care. Regardless, it worked in your favor. You crept behind the one closest to you and jammed the knife through the side of his neck, the other hand covering his mouth to hide his gurgled shout.
You lowered him carefully to the ground and yanked your blade out, freeing your bloodied hand. Looking down at it, you saw the stream of blood coming from your own shoulder. You glanced at your chest and saw the long line across it. The sight made you groan slightly but you made a mental note to deal with it later.
You moved after the other from the pair, careful to match your steps to his. When you were close enough, you jammed the short blade through his back and heard the squelching sound of his now severed spine. You twisted and pulled out, letting his body fall unceremoniously to the ground. You knelt to take the knife from his belt and heard Lieberman giving Frank directions.
You heard small shouts as Frank and Gunner dealt with the pair that was closest, and you used your lens to see the secondary pair that Lieberman was referring to. You made your way to your friend quickly and Frank’s hand closed around your arm to bring you with him. Despite your mild pulling away, Frank dragged you along.
Once there was enough space, Frank gestured for you to try and help Gunner. Gunner leaned against a fallen tree and Frank took position with the rifle. You knelt beside his friend and inspected the wound, though you weren’t sure if you would’ve rather found an exit wound or not. Two quick shots sounded, followed by the thud of limp bodies. Given what you had already taken out, there should be only one pair left.
Frank helped you get Gunner to his feet and you moved ahead of them. Gunner muttered something about you and where Frank found you but you kept your focus forward. Your mask picked up the drone above, which showed the same origination as the comms channel, so you trusted it. You led your trio around the last pair until you were able to watch them pass you. Once they did, you felt their anxiety.
They must’ve known their team was being picked off, one by one. They had walked into a slaughter, though they expected to be the ones ambushing. Their small team, likely even friends, were being left in pools of their own blood, by three figures in the shadows. They didn’t know who they were facing, but they knew their opposition was better. You, Frank, and Gunner were better than them, despite their likely elite or at least high-ranking status. But something about them, their vibrating hesitation and drumline for heartbeats, led you to wonder if it was actually an Anvil team.
But if it wasn’t, why would Billy bring it up to you?
You realized quickly that something wasn’t adding up the way it should and it led you to some tricky speculations that Billy was still in contact with Agent Orange. While it would be an overall useful connection, it did seem to disappoint you a bit. You made a small noise of disgust to yourself before raising your Bite, the bright red glow momentarily illuminating your vision.
You fired on one of the last pair before disappearing out of sight, just before the bullets came in. The man fired aimlessly, shouting his plan to kill you. You scoffed quietly and threw the borrowed knife, watching it bury itself into the man’s leg. He cried out before Frank grabbed him and slammed his own blade into the man’s throat.
Once he fell limp, you two retrieved Gunner and attempted to get him back to his cabin.
The walk felt like an eternity and you knew - Gunner knew it too - that Frank’s friend wouldn’t make it. The two collapsed against one of the trunks and you knelt on Gunner’s other side. You felt awkward, out of place beside a dying man you didn’t know. While they exchanged last words, Gunner reached out and took one of your hands. Your brows furrowed and your first thought was to pull away, but you decided quickly that you could offer comfort to a man who was now dying after fighting beside you.
Maybe you really were a curse.
“Promise me you’ll bury me, okay?” Gunner managed and the words were as desperate as they could be.
“Okay.” Frank answered, looking over at you for the same commitment.
“Yeah.” You nodded. “Just stay here, okay? We’ll be back.”
“We’ll be back.” Frank repeated.
You two stood and you were quick to recognize that Frank wouldn’t make it very far. You cursed quietly as you caught him just before he fell over.
“Goddammit, Frank.” You complained as he leaned more of his weight on you. “You don’t get to die on me in the middle of fucking Kentucky.”
You reached up and pressed on your scar.
“I can’t get him back on my own.” You said quickly, carefully lowering him to the ground. “Get your ass over here, now.”
You yanked your mask down to hang around your neck and reached under Frank’s jacket. The gentle pressure you applied caused fresh blood to bubble out and coat your hand. Your other hand patted your belt and the gauze you kept wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be able to pack the wound enough to be of real help. It was too dark to fully see the extent of the damage and the leaves and branches around were going to do you no favors.
You had two choices. Wait for Lieberman to show up - assuming he would be able to find you two - or leave Frank to find Lieberman and bring him back. The second option was contingent on you being able to find your own way back in the dark so you decided you wouldn’t move. You wouldn’t abandon the one friend you hadn’t been able to push away.
Using your teeth, you pulled off a glove and allowed your exposed hand to cover the wound instead. You shoved your glove into your belt and leaned more weight into Frank, feeling the thump steady against your hand. You weren’t entirely convinced it was a good thing, to feel less of his pulse, but you had to keep faith in the resiliency of Frank Castle.
If a bullet to the head wasn’t going to kill him, neither would a bullet to his side.
After you didn’t know how long, you saw Lieberman’s flashlight. He helped you load Frank into the van and offered you a small collection of items to help. He drove quickly as you worked in the back, though you had to straddle Frank in an effort to allow some stability during the trip. You carefully dressed the wound on his side and managed to insert the IV for fluids and antibiotics without problems.
“You’ll need to get Curtis Hoyle.” You explained as LIeberman drove frantically and you climbed off, reaching for your sweater from your bag.
“What? Wha- Why? What’s wrong with him?” He answered quickly, the anxiety in his words bouncing off the empty walls of the van which made you shiver as you undid the zipper down the front of your suit. You peeled the bloody material down your arms and rubbed some of the excess off with a cleaner area before pulling your sweater over your head, letting out a sharp hiss as you stretched the cut across your chest.
“I don’t know.” You answered honestly before yanking your boots off. “I’m not a doctor but could be from blood loss. Could be the beginning of an infection. Could be something bloodborne that got passed during the fight. That’s why you need to get Curtis when we get back.”
“You can’t help him?”
“I’ve done all I can, Spook.” You groaned and shimmied out of the rest of the suit to change for your regular pants.
