negativeone | ( au post ) i become location and you veer towards me.

[ When his fingers gently find their way to his cheeks, he tilts his face into the caress, chasing after the trail of warmth. He knows that there's something different with the way Frank Castle views the world. How sometimes he seems lost somewhere else, picking up on things that Matt can't comprehend.

It's never really mattered, though.

It does sound hard to believe. If Matt didn't know what it is that he sensed and saw, he wouldn't believe it. ] I don't care what they're called. They can't help me. Not with this. [ Not with how he's been making use of his new circumstances. Not with how he plans to continue using them. ] Besides, who knows if they'd really believe that all I see now is a world on fire?

Sounds a little far-fetched.

Well, it's an option if you ever think you may just need it, Matty. [Frank doesn't really care about teamwork or any of that bullshit. He's got Matt here, and if anyone else wants to help then he's fine with it unless they don't, then they better just stay out of his way. The world's easier, like this, when it's all a war zone, and his heart thumps a little fast at the idea of being relieved of his family because this is his true nature, isn't it?

He drops his hand, rugged sigh escaping.] Yeah. Ain't no one believing me either, with the story that Reyes witch is spinning about the babies. World's a shitty place, all of it, not just Iraq and Afghanistan and wherever. You don't need 'em.

I don't want it. I want justice. [ For Frank and his family. His wife. His children. For Jack, his dad, beaten to death alone in their home and shot point blank. ]

Reyes. [ He sneers it, curling a little more in on himself. He doesn't like her. They still don't know her full connection to all of this, just what she's already tried to do. He wants answers, he wants them for both of them.

He'll take them by force if he has to. ]

Yeah. We'll get it. For your old man, too.

[ Frank just sounds exhausted, and if he's honest he is. He just wants Maria, Lisa, Frankie. He misses them, the sound of their laugh, waking up in the morning to Maria smothering him with kisses or the sound of Lisa practicing her recorder.

But he still has a lot to do. He lies back. ] There were three groups there the day my family was killed. Irish, Dogs of Hell, and the Cartel. From what I remember. Think I'll start with the bikers, when I'm healed up proper.

I know.

[ Matt can hear the exhaustion. He's been there, he felt it before, but not on the same level. Trying to reclaim his own life after losing his sight had been like trying to run a marathon when he was already worn down to nothing. He can't imagine it on Frank's level. Sure, the lost his dad, but Frank---]

Have to get some gear. They won't know what hit them. [ A soft scoff of breath, almost a laugh. ] You know my old man---he never wanted me to use my fists.

I already got gear. [Frank thinks of Micro, too, but doesn't bring him up now. For now, he's got enough to work on his own, knows how to build his own arsenal from here on out.

For the better part of his life, Frank Castle had fought another man's war. Now it only feels proper that he makes his own. The urge for violence, bloodshed, the voices in his head that love it -- it makes it feel right. Frank rolls to sit up against the headboard, dizziness washing over him as he curses about it.] My old lady would hate what I'm about to do. Never liked hearing about all the people I killed, wanted me to go to therapy for it. Maria always had good ideas.

Then I will. At least some kind of armor. Not what I've been using.

[ Which is just shin and arm pads, a black mask half covering his face, thin shirt, cargo pants, combat boots and his banto sticks. Frank would hate the shit if he saw it.

Not like it would stop a bullet. ]

Yeah, she did. [ Kids, too. More than once "Uncle Matt" had ended up in an elaborate fort or playing some elaborate imaginary game with them. ]

What you've been using--Murdock, what the fuck are you doing? [Frank looks at him so he really feels the heat behind the words because really, what the fuck are they doing?] You're being an idiot again, aren't you?

My point was she's got--she had--great ideas but we gotta do what we have to do. I won't rest until they've all paid. I can't.

I'm doing what I have to, Castle. [ He can still feel the heat of the glare, and he shifts, moving to sit up cross-legged in the bed.

The light coming in through the frosted and painted windows highlights new scars on his body, but not his face. ] No more than usual. Well, maybe a little more.

Guess we're stuck this way, then. Until it's done.

Christ, Murdock. Did you join a blind fight club?

[A hand goes out to touch the scars but he thinks better of it, halfway there, and lets the hand fall.] Yeah. Guess we are. Don't get yourself killed.

I've been talking to people.

[ With his fists. He shifts over a little, tugging at his jogging pant legs, but doesn't yet lay down. ] Not planning on it. Can't say the same for the other guys.

Don't worry about me, Castle. I'll look into something. I think I know a guy who can help.

[His response is gruff, succinct as ever, gaze set on Matt's bruised form.] Do you?

Yeah, I do. And if I'm wrong, I've got Claire.

[ She's already patched him up so many times. ]

That’s how you met her.

You got me, if you need me, Red. When I’m back to my senses anyway.

Met is an interesting word for that.

[ She and her neighbor drug him out of a dumpster half-dead. ]

I know I do, but try not to rush it. You need time to heal. These assholes aren't going anywhere.

Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. [He turns to face Matt fully, cheek against the pillow.] How’d you meet Temple, then?

[ Matt gives a rueful smile when he asks that. It was a bad night. That was an understatement. ]

She drug me out of a dumpster with the help of a neighbor and tried to keep me from dying on her couch.

So, anyone coulda came across you in that dumpster, that right? You think it was divine intervention or whatever bullshit they taught you in Sunday school that made the nurse come across you instead of anyone else?

[Frank’s not yelling, per se. His tone’s quiet, gruff, disappointed.] You’re reckless, Red. What happened to you?

Yeah, Castle, anybody could have, but they didn't. Don't do that. Don't use my faith like that.

[ It was always a struggle with him, but he always managed to hold to his faith while serving. He lowers his head, though, letting go a soft breath and his upset. ] The night before the Russians had taken a child from his father. They beat his dad senseless in front of him, and I was the only one that heard it.

No one else was coming.

[Frank goes quiet for a moment after Matt responds, and he would’ve tipped Matt’s head to get him to look up, up at him, meet his gaze, but now he just sits and breathes and keeps his fingers twisted in the silk sheets. He huffs out a breath, smiles.]

You got the boy, yeah? You’re doin’ the right thing. I just think your heroics, running around in a boy’s pajamas, is gonna get you hurt. More hurt than you already are. Ain’t tryin’ to use your faith against you as much as I’m worried that one night’s gonna be your last because you can be fucking reckless, Matty, we both know it.

I got him. I did some things that I'm not exactly proud of to do it, but I got him. He's back with his dad again, safe and sound.

[ His teeth find his lower lip, worrying it and chewing as he fails to let go his frustration. ] It might, yeah. That might happen. But someone has to do something. This city is suffering and her people are afraid. I hear it all the time, Frank.

I can't stand by.

You never could stand by, Matty. I'd never want you to, expect you to.

[He exhales, wheezy as ever, a laugh escaping.] You do look like shit, though, good intentions or not. Think you need me to cover your ass, like back in Afghanistan. I can do that when I get better.

[ Matt offers a tight smile at that. It's not untrue. ]

I could use someone to cover my six, but I can't wait until you're ready. [ He hopes he understands. There's an argument somewhere a few blocks away, and his head tilts as he focuses in on it, tensing a moment. It deescalates and he relaxes a little. ]

Right now I just need you better.

( au post ) i become location and you veer towards me.

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