ghosts from the past.

Madalyn had no way of knowing what Frank felt like in this moment. SHe had no idea how he felt about learning that there was potential that his closest friend was working against him. Once upon a time, Billy had fought right beside Frank overseas. They'd lived and fought together day in and day out, fighting just to get back home all in one piece. The man that had saved Frank's life probably more times than either of them could count was now potentially working against him... the thought was enough to churn Madalyn's stomach. It made her sick to think about, sick to think someone you trusted so much at one point now wanted your head on a silver platter... how? Why?

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Madalyn was nodding before Frank even finished speaking about Curtis. "Yeah, of course. I'll run some checks when I get home tonight and... and if there's anything of concern, I'll wear my red runners to work tomorrow. Don't usually wear them to work because if they get ruined, I'd be pissed but I'm sure David can find me on a camera." Madalyn thought her suggestion was a good one and when Frank nodded, she smiled softly. His approval, no matter how small it was, was enough to cause her heart to flutter just like it used to.

"Frank," Madalyn paused, exhaling slowly, deliberately. "I swear to you that by the time we're all finished with this, your reputation will be wiped clean. I'm sure you don't give a shit and honestly, after everything, I can't really blame you but I want you to be able to live freely. Not like some fuckin' lowlife criminal that has to hide because he's afraid he'll be locked up for crimes that weren't your fault to begin with." It had always been unspoken that Madalyn agreed with what Frank had done but she'd just voiced it for the first time. "Shit is going to get a whole lot worse before it even starts to get better but if it's the last damn thing I do, I'm going to make sure you get the sort of peace you deserve."

Madalyn had rambled and by the time she finished, she felt a little silly. Like she was saying things that Frank probably didn't really care about because why would he? Once upon a time, Frank would have but things had changed and that made the two of them change. Swallowing, Madalyn crossed her arms as she looked down to her feet. "But I'm an Evans and you know what that means. I'm stubborn and fuckin' hardheaded on the best of days," she said, a little smirk finding its way to her features.

After Madalyn left that evening, Frank spent a lot of time alone. Mostly in the gym, trying his hardest to work out his aggressions. Frank was so sick and tired of feeling so let down by everyone around him. It was almost as if there wasn’t anybody left that he could trust in this life. Sometimes, Frank wished that he could just move on to a different part of the world—hell, he even wished he could leave the world at times. It was becoming more and more frustrating with each day that passed. But Frank was getting used to it, slowly but surely. There was only one person Frank could truly rely on, and that was his damn self. He was the fucking Punisher for Christ sake. He didn’t need anyone to hold his hand or help him out or be there for him—but dammit, he would be lying if he said it wouldn’t be nice.

The next day, Frank woke up early (well earlier than normally) and went for a jog. He kept a close eye in the dawn light for anything off around the surrounding area. He was still a bit wary of Madalyn and the baggage of the CIA she might be brining with out realizing it, so it didn’t hurt to be extra cautious. He ran the mapped loop three times before dragging his sweaty, out of breath ass back into the bunker. When he got into the bunker, David was already awake. It was nearing eight AM at this point, David normally didn’t crawl out of his room until 11 at best. He spun around in his chair and told Frank that he needed to go shower and then come back. Frank rolled his eyes but did as he was told without any lip.

When Frank returned, freshly showered and changed he sat down by David. David explained to him that the cameras had picked up Madalyn that morning, and she was in fact, wearing the red shoes. Frank simply nodded and decided he would be at Madalyn’s apartment when she got off.

---

Frank stood outside of Madalyn’s apartment, counting the minutes until she should be home. He was hidden, but he could still see everything that was going on around him. When he saw her walk by, he popped out of the place he had been lurking from. “Hey,” he called softly as not to startle her. “I see your shoes.”

Madalyn had been expecting Frank to be in her apartment when she got home, just like the first time that they had been introduced in nearly a decade. She had extended the offer to Frank that her home was a safe place for him should he ever need it, so she wasn't expecting him to pop out from the shadows when she was walking up to her apartment. Jumping slightly when Frank stepped out, she gave him a soft glare before he spoke. She winced slightly, glancing down to her feet as she nodded.

"Come on. Let's head up to the apartment before we get into it," Madalyn offered, motioning for Frank to follow her into the building. She briefly wondered if Frank had taken the front door or if he had taken the fire escape up to her apartment before... Shaking her head at the thought, Madalyn bit the inside of her lip as she stepped through the threshold. "I was going to make tacos for supper... hope that's alright," she said, not looking at Frank as she set about beginning to brown the hamburger meat. As it fried, she chopped up a tomato and shredded some lettuce.

"So, I don't know how much of a big deal it is," Madalyn paused to take a deep breathe before she continued. "The group that Curtis runs is completely funded by Russo. 'Course it could be nothing but it speaks to how close they are..." she trailed off, glancing toward Frank to gauge his reaction. "It's not much, really, but I figured it was worth mentioning in case you weren't aware, I guess. Sorry if it's stupid..." Madalyn fell quiet, realizing that she was probably blowing something incredibly small out of proportion. But then, in the world of Frank Castle, was anything ever really small? The smallest detail could be the difference between life and death.

Frank could tell there was off with Madalyn purely by her body language alone. He knew that something was wrong, obviously, because she had worn the shoes she had said she was going to if she happened to find something. Frank was nervous, to say the least, because he sure as hell wouldn’t be able to take it if Curtis was up to no good. The man was the only person left that Frank thought he would be able to trust with all of the shit that had been going down. Frank wasn’t sure how he was going to take it if he found out that Curtis had any ill intentions toward him.

Frank followed behind Madalyn silently to her apartment. He wanted to jump to conclusions and just flat out ask her if she knew if Curtis was out to get him just like everyone else was. But Frank had learned a long time ago that it was better just to let the information come to him instead of going overboard. But that didn’t stop the assumptions from flooding his mind. Frank sat down at her kitchen table as soon as they entered the apartment, watching her head straight to the kitchen. “I ain’t ever going to turn down free food, you know that.” Frank mustered up a small, tired smile to offer her. He watched her as she flitted about, clearly nervous about the information she was getting ready to unload on him.

When she began to speak, Frank watched her intently and listened as the words came out of her mouth. When she finally admitted what she had found out, it was like a ton of bricks were being lifted off of Frank’s shoulders. He even let out a chuckle, his hands coming up to press at his eyes. He shook his head and let his hands drop to the table. “God dammit I feel like an asshole, Mads.” Frank was sure he looked like an idiot, laughing at the info that she had just told him—she was clearly worked up about it and here he was laughing. “I shoulda told you about that already, I shoulda told you I already knew that. I don’t think Curtis is privy to what Russo is doin’ with his money besides funding the group.” Frank sighed, clearly relieved. “But I don’t think Curtis is gonna keep takin’ that money once I let him know what the hell is really going on behind closed fuckin’ doors. Why don’t you come with me to talk to him? Just in case?” Frank offered her another smile. He hoped that by offering to take her with him, it would give her some sort of solidarity in what she was doing for Frank. He hoped it would make her feel less like an informant, and more like she was actually helping.

Madalyn whirled around to face Frank when he let out a laugh, her eyes narrowing as her back straightened. "What the fuck're you laughing at, Castle?!" She demanded, her voice heated as she glared at the man. "Her stance relaxed as Frank explained himself, leaving just a scowl on her features as she shook her head. "You're an asshole sometimes, you know that?" She grumbled, turning back to the food that she had started. She shook her head, reaching over to turn off the pan once the meat was appropriately seasoned. "Come get some tacos, asshole," she huffed, though her tone was a lot calmer now. Almost fond as she shook her head, glancing back to Frank as he offered her to join him. "I don't.. I don't know. I mean, not on joining you but if Curt doesn't know, maybe it's better that way. At least until we get to the bottom of the whol esituation, you know?"

Settling down at her table, Madalyn tucked one leg under her other thigh as she began to dig into the tacos she had built for herself. "Don't worry about eating it all. If you're hungry, it's fine," Madalyn said, grinning as she watched Frank build his own tacos. She was quiet, washing in the moment of watching Frank do something so... so simple. Something that didn't really matter in the grande scheme of things but it warmed her heart to know she'd been able to provide Frank with a halfway decent meal that they could both enjoy together.

One bite into her second taco, Madalyn jumped, dropping the taco back onto her plate as her front door opened. Sam being her best friend, he had a key to her place and in he walked, a bouquet of flowers in his hand as he looked down, kicking off his shoes. "You know, when you get all ready to take a-" Sam's grumbling fell short when he looked up, seeing Frank shoving to his feet hurriedly, watching as the former Marine stepped forward to protect a wide eyed Madalyn.

"Well, fuck."

Madalyn groaned as she stood, reaching out to grab Frank by his shoulder before he could do anything. "Frank, uh... meet Sam. Sam, Frank?" She winced at the introduction, moving to stand between the two men because the tension was so damn thick that she was sure it would only be a moment or two before they launched at each other.

Frank stood up from the table and walked into the kitchen, taking the plate from her that she offered. He made himself a few tacos and reached into her fridge to grab a beer. He knew he didn’t need to ask, she would have just gotten it for him anyways. He sat back at the table and went to work eating his food. He paused and looked up at her when he felt her staring at him. “What?” He said through a mouthful. “I’m strarvin’. Bout to wither away over here.” He smirked at her. He eyed her for a moment, before tossing her a small wink and resuming his meal.

The door being pushed open had Frank on his feet in a flash. He quickly swallowed his foot and ready himself on instinct for whoever was about to come through the door. “Who the fuck—” Frank was spitting the words out only to be interrupted by Madalyn roughly introducing them. Frank’s eyes narrowed, and heat spread to his limbs. So this was Sam. The same Sam who Madalyn went and ran her mouth to. The same Sam who was apparently her best friend who she went out with and all that bullshit so frequently.

“The fuck he doin’ here?” Frank asked harshly, eyes flitting between the man and Madalyn. Frank spotted the flowers in the mans hand and a pit of something unfamiliar settled in his belly. Was Frank feeling jealous…? Frank pushed the thoughts away and masked it with anger. He almost wanted to grab his shit and go. But then again he also wanted to beat the ever living fuck out of the man standing at the door. “What are you tryin’ to do here, Madalyn?”

On one hand, Madalyn was thankful that Frank had leapt to his feet and shown that he was incredibly protective of her. Or maybe he was simply defensive... either way, the first one sounded better and she would go with that one. When Frank realized who was standing opposite them, he seemed to relax the smallest of bits. Nearly undetectable but his shoulders weren't quite as tense as they had been. Madalyn supposed that was about as much of a victory as she could count.

Madalyn's lips had parted, ready to answer Frank's question, only for her expression to harden when Frank turned on her. Her eyes narrowed as she ground her teeth together, turning her full attention to Frank now. Sam seemed wise enough to keep his mouth shut, knowing the onslaught that Frank was about to face. The Punisher or not, Madalyn had never taken kindly to someone even thinking about questioning her loyalty.

"The fuck do you mean," Madalyn paused, holding her hands up to use air quotes. "What am I trying to do here?" She bit at Frank, her teeth gritted as she took a step toward him. "I was trying to fuckin' have a nice supper with your stupid ass because as you said, you were withering away. Then my best friend decided to show up because y'know. He's my best friend, he's got a key to my place. We do work in a dangerous field, after all," Madalyn pointed out, jabbing her finger into Frank's chest. "And by the sounds of what Sam's already explained, he got stood up." Madalyn's anger was caused in part because of that but there was nothing she could do about that so unfortunately Frank was going to bare the full brunt of her anger. "By some stupid ass man if you must know. Because I have a funny feeling you're tryin' to be a jealous prick right now, Frank Castle and that just isn't plausible because Sam's fuckin' gay. And there's nothing here to begin with, remember?" Madalyn spat, her hands balling into fists at her sides as she glared up at Frank. Frank was a dangerous man to most but to her, Madalyn didn't think there was a danger so getting angry at him or testing his patience didn't have the same ramifications as it would for others.

Frank couldn’t help the betrayal he felt as he saw Sam stood across the room from him. Madalyn knew how Frank felt about the entire situation with him and her and Madani. There was no way in hell Frank even wanted to be in the same space as the agent. He glared down at Madalyn, gently swatting her hand away when she jabbed him in the chest. “Don’t fuckin’ touch me like that, Maddy.” He all but growled. His gaze turned to Sam once more, his eyes boring into the man. Sam stood with bewilderment to the entire situation. “I gotta right to be pissed when this fuckin’ agent shows up while I’m here.”

Frank turned and set his plate of food down on the table. He zipped up his hoodie on instinct, almost as if he was getting ready to punish. But he wasn’t. It was almost a defense mechanism for the ex-marine. A sign to others to back the fuck down before it got ugly. “I told you that I was a-oh-fuckin’-kay with you speaking about my name, Madalyn, but I ain’t never said that I was fuckin’ okay with being around any of ‘em.”

Frank glared at Sam once more, trying to decide if the man was a threat or not. He couldn’t get a read on him. Frank hated that. The man was fully aware that this agent Sam character was Maddy’s so-called best friend. But it didn’t mean that Frank had to be around him, or like him, or talk to him, or even acknowledge his very existence. Frank shook his head as he looked between the pair of them. Sam staring wide eyed at Madalyn, Madalyn glaring at Frank, then Sam looking at Frank like he had seen a fucking ghost.

Sam shoved his hands in his pocket quite awkwardly. He looked around for a moment before he began to back up towards the door, “Mads, I can go, really—”

“No use,” Frank interrupted him, his eyes still trained on Madalyn. “I’m fuckin’ outta here.”

"You have no fucking right to be pissed off! Sam was stood up on a date, we're best fucking friends. What do you expect someone to do when they get stood up?! Is it really that crazy of an idea to you, that someone has friends that they rely on?!" Madalyn shouted, her anger only seeming to grow the more that she considered the situation in front of her. Normally, she would have never started yelling at Frank in such a way but damn it, Sam was her best friend. She wasn't about to let Sam take some sort of unnecessary fall all because Frank was uncomfortable with Sam being here.

Madalyn huffed, crossed her arms as she watched Frank put his plate down. She straightened, moving between Sam and Frank. She didn't think... or, she hoped that Frank wouldn't hurt Sam but she couldn't be too sure with how volatile this situation was proving to be. "You need to stop fucking acting like this was some kind of set up, Frank!" Madalyn hissed, only relaxing slightly once she was firmly planted between the two men.

"If I wanted to set you up, I already would have. Hell, if I had really wanted to, I could have caught up to you the first night you visited! Or I could have tricked you when I wore my shoes! It would have been so, so damn easy but guess what... I didn't. But I guess that was all for nothing if I'm some useless, stupid fed," Madalyn spat, letting out a dry laugh. She still hadn't looked at Sam since Frank had declared he was leaving.

Her chest was heaving with the effort of each breathe that she took, only letting out a small, defeated noise when Frank left through her front door. Sam advanced on her in moments, encapsulating her in a tight hug. Madalyn meant to laugh but she let out a sob, feeling like she'd failed Frank yet again.