PUNISHER

❝ You couldn’t possibly     have seen that coming Frank N O  O N E  C O U L D     And I know that me saying that     probably means nothing to you BUT     their deaths are not on you            

&& that x-ray of your skull just proves that there was nothing else you could have done..❞

     Eyes sparking from the tears she has been fighting to block for      a while now,she barely managed finished her sentence without      her voice cracking.She quickly wiped away a tear that escaped.      His words really go to her. He was right.You are NOTHING when      you hear a bullet go by. You’re even a BIGGER nothing when you      are the one firing that gun.

Her thoughts drifted for a few moments on the night she killed Wesley. More tears started welling up.The moment her gaze met Franks was what pulled her back to reality.She shook her head lightly.

        ❝ They are still people…Shitty scumbags for sure                                   but that’s still a  L I F E violently ripped away.                                   By killing them,you are becoming one of them.❞

The silence wasn’t awkward.It was welcomed by Karen,since it helped calm herself down.                                                                 His question caught her off guard.Gaze averted from the ground           back to Frank’s face.She licked her bottom lip,as she always did           whenever she was trying to put her thoughts into words.

         ❝          My father taught me.He was a firm believer that                                 women should not be dependent on someone.                                 Especially regarding their  S A F E T Y.❞

A small smile lightened her features in memory of her dad. In memory of her young self. Carefree,full of life and most of all HAPPY. Something she couldn’t seem to be able to be anymore

" Maybe. 

   But 've been in a worse state    than havin' a goddamn bullet in my head.        War taught me a lot. Broke me many times,        take my blood away, but tha' didn't STOP me        to keep goin', so ' don't think tha' hidin' behind        the medical shit 's wha' 'wanna do right now..."

A steady, almost tranquil voice crawled out through the man's lips as he decided to share the past with woman who actually was either full of batshit, or innocent enough to BELIEVE IN FRANK CASTLE, the walking dead. The tip of male's tongue brushed the upper lip, as the sound of SADNESS reached him in a brutal way. He didn't t want that. Didn't want to see anyone's tears and especially not from someone who wanted to HELP him, who gave him the strength to KEEP FIGHTING, to keep smashing this plague of humanity who dared to keep their heads up, like damn kings of this city.

" - ain't a good subject      for the place like this, huh ?         cheer up, ma'am. We're in the         amusement park, after all."

A languid nod cut the air after a break from words, putting a deep frown on his forehead. Telling the truth, Frank didn't give a shit what kind of future this life had for him... time alone will tell.

" Tha' ain't a LIFE ! They're     wastin' the air, infectin' this city     with their own self.."

A sardonic snort filled the space as he dipped his head to look at his hands.

" y'sure ' ain't one of 'em ALREADY ?"

The question dropped heavily onto them, as the male faced Karen, fixing the empty eyes on her statue.                                       when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

" Sounds like a good ol' to me.    He was right.. women should know    how to defend themselves...

“Nah, I guess not. And from the looks of it, neither do YOU.”

" at leats ' got the reasons, kid.    An' ya ? Ya just doin' it just    'cause ya like it"

Matt nodded. It wasn’t susprising that Karen had told Frank about their conversation from days ago. By the way she walked out of the office that night, Matt figured she’d want to talk to someone about it. And either Frank or Foggy would be on the top of the list.

“Yeah, I… I figured she should know. After everything that’s happened, it was fair to her.”

Fair was an understatement. Ever since they met, Matt had constantly showed up hurt, constantly dodged all her questions, as well as Foggy started doing after he found out. And then Elektra came back and everything just went to shit. Especially because they were trying to build some kind of relationship by then. And Matt just kept lying, to both her and Foggy, pushing them away. He missed Frank’s trial, as well as a whole other bunch of shit happening.

In a way, it was his fault that Nelson & Murdock was over. And maybe it would be BETTER this way.

Even though Karen always knew there was SOMETHING going on, she surely didn’t think it was that Matt was the ‘Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’. He couldn’t even blame her for being so mad once he finally told her the truth.

But he was glad he did. He’d hate to keep lying to her, even if they never talked again. He cared about her too much to let that keep happening.

“Is she okay?”

He hadn’t talked to Karen ever since that night, though she wasn’t really the one to blame. Matt hadn’t tried contacting her even once. He wanted to believe it would be better for her if he kept his distance. But then again, keeping his distance was what made everything go south in the first place.

" FAIR..."

The sardonic sound of Frank's voice rang in the ears, before sarcastic laughter took control over the silence between them two, creating something in the form of a smirk on Castle's mouth. The shithead didn't know shit, did he ? After this long story of lying each other, of putting the trust aside just to have a nice work done without worrying THE FAMILY, Matt thought a few, good words will fix things. It wasn't FAIR... it was more like a blow below the belt, throw the shit at her, hoping that Karen will UNDERSTOOD.                       But maybe that was IT... the meaning of LOVE.                                         Hurt one another to feel SOMETHING.

" wha' a charitable boy    ya 're, huh, Red ?           - y'should have told her SOONER.             She's a smart woman... she'd understood, y'know ?             Tha' her loverboy 's A HERO in pajamas wearin' a mask.."

Castle's hand took a grip of the REMINGTON M24 SWS, making sure that every piece of the gun was on its own place. The whole love story romance wasn't his jam, that's for sure, but for that woman he would do anything. Karen believed in him, showed Frank that he was still ALIVE, showed him that he was still a PERSON under this shit tones of blood visible on his skin.

" Ya lied to her, ya put her in danger    'cause of tha', oh an' tha' other woman -"

The male lifted his eyes to fix them on the Red.

" - yeah, she told me 'bout tha; one, too.       so, ' dunno.. 's she 'kay ?              Admit it, kid.              Ya dunno shit 'bout women."

With a deep frown, he rested the gun against the roof balustrade.

" They were righ, ma'am.   Helpin' me ain't gonna fix the problem.   quite the contrary....

" Ya ain't gonna find anythin'   useful in this camp, ma'am.   So, how 'bout ya stop