The Punisher: Marked For Death (Athene & East)


"Holy fuck! Is that Frank Castle?!" Frank knew that eventually someone was going to recognize him, and find out that he was still alive. Thankfully this time however the man did not live very long to tell the story about how he had met the Punisher.

The two of them worked together, With Suki focused and in autopilot the room was cleared rather quickly, and gracefully without much further inury to either of them. When she went to grab her gun, he was already picking up his own. By the end of the fire fight if he was counting right he only had one in the chamber. Suki went to grab her gun, and he was about ready to hike it out of the place.

Except he heard her muffled scream, causing him to run back into the primary crime scene, seeing a man still alive, maybe the one he had injured in the start of the fight holding a pillow to Suki's face. He shot the man, lifting up the pillow to find Suki had already paled, his ear went to her mouth checking for her breathing, and he immediately cursed.


Frank flew into action, his hands joining together over Suki's solar plexus, this was going to hurt, but it would be worth it if she lived, he couldn't loose another person he cared about. '1...2...3' He pressed down on her chest hard, before going to her lips to attempt to give life giving air, his ear checked Suki again, no response.

1...2...3 How long had she been suffocated for? how long could he manage to do this for? A sort of panic was starting to set in. He breathed into her again trying to revive her, no response.

He opened up her clothing, taking off the heavy bullet proof vest she had borrowed, his hands were over her T-Shirt, and he again pounded on her chest. 1...2...3 and a breath, He hoped that maybe with the vest off she would have a better chance of living.
 

If the last mafia member had been allowed perhaps five to ten more seconds, they would have turned the direction the gun was pointed. Alas, it was denied and with that refusal came their life ceasing.

Even after Frank removed the vest, it seemed like nothing had changed. The doubt and anxieties eating away had all the reasons to strengthen.

It wouldn't be until after he finished the sixth set that a frustrated groan would finally resound, followed by a few violent wheezes and gasps. Although Suki's eyes didn't immediately open, her hands moved in front of her face. Only soft exhales would be heard for at least two minutes, just a bit shy under three, before she finally spoke, albeit muffled with her hands remaining in front of her mouth.

"One of these days, I promise you won't see me looking like I barely passed the academy and shit."

She started to add more ... but what else was there to include? If she weren't timed, probably a lot. But as it was ... she remembered where they were, as well as what she'd been in the midst of doing. In case she forgot though, the reminder came into view as she finally lowered her hands and glanced down at her pistol.

" .... Okay. So here's the sucky part."

She extended her left arm out, grabbing her firearm and firmly holding it in her left. Suki likely wouldn't need to say exactly what she was talking about being the part she wasn't looking forward to. It became very obvious as Frank helped her stand up and Suki's body shuddered, a pained and very frustrated growl leaving her lips.

"Feel ... free to just get the back doors. I'm gonna lie down."

Not only to relieve any pain in her leg, but stay out of sight. With them agreeing to do this in broad daylight, Suki being physically spotted would look be an even bigger risk. The unfortunate truth, in fact, was she was probably going to be linked at this scene courtesy of the bastard that succeeded in shooting her leg. She didn't need to look over her shoulders to know there was probably a blood trail; one that she'd be fine helping Frank try to clean .... if they could afford to spare some minutes.

But seeing as they didn't ... Suki was going to have to hope for one of two outcomes.

The first - and not overly likely scenario - was someone in forensics would fail to identify her DNA. The second was getting a call with a million questions and - very begrudgingly, mind you - forcing herself to lie.

... Well, maybe not lie. Maybe something else. Her mind was having that back-up plan trying to formulate.

First and foremost, though, was getting to the van, and then getting back to Frank's place.

"It didn't go all the way through. It's .... deep. But not so much tweezers won't be able to reach it."

And thus would come another 'sucky part' of the day; having the bullet extracted. Which was exactly why she went on dropped that hint to Frank now as opposed to later. This way, there'd be no surprises and he could know exactly what to expect and search for when they arrived.

Suki kept to her word and plopped on top of the rear seats, breathing heavily.

"What fucking day is it? Some unlucky day I forgot to mark or some shit? Goddamn .... "

Her head merely shook as Suki held on tightly with one arm. Her other, meanwhile, reached back and activated the safety on her pistol before proceeding to tuck the gun into her rear pocket.
 
Frank Castle

"Shit." Frank saw the bloody wound, and knew what she meant, there was a clear time pressure on them to get out of here before cops showed up, though there was a chance that the neighbors weren't home, it was the middle of the day on a week day, statistically most people in queens had a two hour commute to work. It was possible, but not something he wanted to risk it was clear that he couldn't scrub the scene, not thuroughly enough with the amount of blood and bodies.

Picking up Suki he ran her to the back of the Van dumping her into the room, and shutting the doors, then he turned his attention to the house.

He didn't know how long he would have so running back he had to do what he did quick. He went to the kitchen, grabbing the biggest bag of sugar he could find was easy enough, and he turned on the oven. Gas, at least one thing was going his way.

He set the bag on fire, the paper containing flamible product quickly started to catch, and walking back past the living room he threw the bag of now burning sugar at the wall, the result was an instant house fire.

If he couldn't clean the crime scene he would have to settle for burning it to the ground. If nothing else the quickly spreading fire would make things harder for csi to work out.

Walking out of the house, and into the car, he calmly started the van, and started to drive away. "You got over excited needing to check on the victim, You forgot to check your corners."

Frank spoke almost like a proffessor or drill sergent letting her know how she had done wrong. "But you survived." He said softly, thankful for that single fact. He let out a sigh as he was on the road now, going well and far away from the burning crime scene. "We are gonna need to change vans." He didn't know if this one had been compromised, which sucked, he had really liked this one.

"I set the house on fire, so that should slow CSI down, they won't enter an active crime scene if it's burning, and the heat will ruin most if not all the dna evidence." He said hoping to at least calm her down a little. "If we are lucky, the entire house will burn down, and that will save us a lot more time, but we can't keep making these mistakes."
 

When Frank didn't immediately get in the driver's seat of the van, Suki's head tilted. "What are you -- hey!"

An eyebrow rose as she sat up, using her elbows to push herself cautiously up. The fire was all she needed to see to understand what he'd done. The gesture was ... appreciated. But surely, he knew that may not even be a permanent solution. Right?

"Yeah, I saw it go up in flames."

Her head plopped down, another sigh exiting as he relayed what she'd done wrong. Her head merely nodded, "Yeah .... but you didn't really check 'em either. Not this time."

She wasn't trying to be defensive. It wasn't Suki's intention, anyway. But ... she wasn't taking all of the blame. Not when - this time, anyway - it really hadn't been all her. And then .... there was just the fact these bastards had been much more prepared than either of them planned for. The more Suki thought back on it, the more unnerving it was.

Knowing a good chunk of the NYPD was ex-military like herself was one thing. But ... these guys, too? If they had these sorts of tactics, then it was a good enough hint that there were probably more rogue cops than Suki would ever want to think about or admit out loud.

As the car started up, she reached back again, this time pulling her phone out. She didn't really think she'd accidentally butt dial anyone; but taking it out of her pocket was an easy way to be damn sure of that. What she really was looking for, however, made her head bury into the seat she was laying across.

"Fuck me, go figure. Nine-eleven ... no wonder today's a shit day."

It wasn't the only reason. She wasn't that dumb to assume so. But it was .... a dry humor attempt at trying to find something other than her own self having contributed to this mission going as badly as it did.

"I mean .... you're not completely wrong, but you kinda are. Most of these errors are mine."

Her head shook as she scoffed at herself.

"Which wouldn't bother me except they're also rookie fuck-ups. Something a graduated cop or military person shouldn't be doing in the first goddamn place. But ... that's not where I'm going. You've saved my ass more times than I probably deserve. I know you said we were a unit and shit. But part of me wouldn't blame you if you said 'fuck this' and shoved me away. Your friend joked about bad shit happening when people were around you, but ... it seems like that curse is working vice versa. Something like that. It ain't only you though."

The same tears that stung her eyes returned as her mind went back to her lost sister-in-arms, the funeral, and why it had happened in the first damn place.

A bullet that had been meant for Suki ... was intercepted.

The guilt had never haunted her for years. Mainly because her comrade's parting words included a vow to move on. But now? Oh yeah. She was definitely getting tormented again slightly.

" .... I umm .... I know I've been a bit of a pain and shit. You kinda have too, though, but ... regardless. Thanks. I'm not gonna say my tempted side to fight with you isn't trying to pop back up, but ... no. Don't feel like it, especially with a fucked up leg. And a future resignation call to make .... sometime."

Even if not today, definitely by the time her two weeks came to an end. An unfortunate thing, but it had always been on her to-do list. It just shifted from having a (?) beside it to (!!!) to bump it up in priority.

"Well .... okay. Personal question for ya, then. Because you're probably right we should switch vans. But we can't just nod our heads or snap our fingers to make one appear. So ... while you've been concealed - or at least unknown about - from the public, have you done enough on the side? Or am I paying for this van? Just so I know what to expect. As long as you tell me, I seriously won't care. In fact, consider it one way to slowly work on making up for my mistakes if you wanna."

Her tone never changed during the entire talk; a giveaway to express she was being dead serious with everything she was relaying.

When the van finally came to a halt, Suki began rolling carefully over, moving from on her stomach to on her back. She then reached up, using the seats to aid in pulling herself up to a sitting position as she waited for Frank to come and open the doors.
 

She was right, he had messed up as well, he hadn't seen the ambush until the gernade had hit the ground, which was all the more reason that he was critical of the attack, it meant he had a blindspot and that wasn't something that had happened to him in a long time. He was unsure what to say about that, and she was making valid points.

When she brought up the fact that it was rememberance day he groaned. "I hate that day." He said softly, rememberance day was annoying for a lot of reasons the biggest being that it was uncomfortable for a former veteran like himself, to be constantly bombarded with 'hey remember that'. It was a lot of government lip services, it wasn't like VA was gonna pull out a cash check for him or anyone else today, hell the government got the day off.

Wasn't that ritch? the soldiers got to work, while the politicians gave themselves a day off to remember the sacrifices of others.

When Suki said that they were rookie mistakes he nodded. "And it makes sense that your making them. Look I didn't just wake up after a head wound and start doing this like it was nothing. I made mistakes too on occasion, the fact that we both lived through it means we learn from it, we pick ourselves up, and we don't make the same mistake twice."

"Cause when you make the same mistake twice, you die, it's really that simple."

When Suki asked if she was gonna buy the new Van he gave a chuckle. "Suki, do you really think that this van is under my legal name?" He said with a soft smile.

"The registry is a fake, good enough to pass a stop check, but I took this van when I took down a group of car thieves."

He stopped at a storage locker facility, he opened the door to help Suki his arm around her shoulders to support her walking, He paused for a one moment so that he could grab a set of keys, taking her to a locker, and tossing it up, three different vans sat in the wide storage room. "and she wasn't the only one i took."
 

"Yeah. I do too. I didn't lose anyone or anything, but .... still. I more than understand how you feel about today."

It was for a similar enough reason she disliked Pearl Harbor Day being a recognized 'holiday'. Too many politics were involved. But Pearl Harbor was always worse with her, because for the racist idiots that existed and noted she was a Japanese? Oh yeah. She got blamed for that.

Of course, none of her family had been involved with World War II. Not that anyone bothered to check or ask. Nah, those bastards had to simply assume.

Her eyes rolled at the thought. Thankfully, Frank wasn't one of those idiots. In fact ... she couldn't deny that for all his rough edges and whatnot, he was far nicer than most other guys had been. There was definitely an odd sense of irony in that revelation, one that made her smirk in amusement.

"Well ... then you're doing a far better job on acting like the professional between us. You really don't seem like you've made mistakes ever, if at all. But .... "

Her head nodded.

"Point made. Yeah. I'll ... make sure not to repeat anything like that again. Because .... you're right. I've seen it enough times to know it isn't just a saying. It is actually true."

Her smirk widened as she allowed Frank to see her playfully roll her eyes. "Yes, because I know everything about you. Jesus, no ... I don't fucking know every damn thing about you. Same is true vice versa, though. For real though, I doubt this is under your legal name."

A grimace and several pained noises elicited as she accepted Frank's shoulder, carefully limping out of the van and walking with him. To a .... garage? Storage area of some sort. All made very obvious when it opened to reveal quite a few more vehicles. The sight made Suki chuckle.

"Geez. You literally could have told me you had these somewhere instead of showing them off. All the same, good to know that much is taken care of."

Her head tilted as she looked up at Frank.

"Wait ... we changing now? Is that what this is supposed to imply?"

She'd honestly expected to head back. But now that it dawned on her they weren't at his place yet ... it seemed like a fair enough assumption. It was just one she didn't want to make a wrong guess about. She was a woman who preferred being in the know for everything. So if a literal change of vehicle was gonna happen much sooner as opposed to later, she wanted to know now to avoid confusion.
 

"With the car being compermised it's unsafe to take it anywhere near our home." Frank knew she was hurt, but at the same time he couldn't risk the crime scene leading them towards the house. "So we are switching vans now, and then we can go back to my apartment." He made the switch as easy for her as possible, putting her in a new van and locking up the old one.

"Worst thing that happens if they track it to here is they find a couple of stolen cars, the locker isn't something that can be linked back to me." Frank showed just a touch of his paranoia when it came to keeping his identity hidden. The thugs who recognized him were all dead, so for the moment anyway his involvement was an unkown factor.

He also took out a medical kit that he kept in the locker. handit to Suki it had supplies to bandage up her leg, and clean the wound, maybe not remove the bullet, or anything like that if it was still in her leg, but he could do that when he got home, this was more to make sure that she could treat herself in the moment.

Driving out with the new van, he started to take a winding route to go home. "That said I don't think we will be getting home soon, I wanna make sure that we aren't being tailed or anything, so i'm gonna go a pretty long way." Frank said checking his mirrors. "The good part is I know that the cops aren't following us, if anyone was called to that house, we would have heard the sirens, but."

Frank pulled out his phone, and tossed it towards Suki. "I have a radio app on that phone, it's tuned to the NYPD's dispatch channel, give it a listen for a bit. See if they bring us up." An advantage of having an officer of the law on his team was she knew all the police coded short hands. She would be able to parse out the constant chatter far faster than he would.
 

Suki nodded in understanding. As rough as the man could come off as, he tended to have his points. This was just another one of them. Had this been scheduled in the late afternoon or night? Then maybe they could have skipped the trip here. But with them having just entered the now deceased Sutherland's residence, let alone in broad daylight, it wasn't smart to remain in the other van.

While Frank worked on locking the van they'd just used up, Suki laid down, groaning gently as she used both of the rear seats like she had before. If any blood was still flowing from her leg ... then it wasn't obvious. Maybe it was because she was hyped on adrenaline, but truthfully? She couldn't even feel that wound too well, nor any pain from it. It was scaring her a bit ... but not enough to voice the worry out loud.

A weak grin of appreciation adorned her lips as she was given the first aid kit. She didn't need to be told what it was for and went right to work in wrapping the area as quickly but tightly as possible. A slight hiss resounded as she pulled.

Good. It was just adrenaline; that was what the surge of agony implied as for why she wasn't feeling anything right now. Were the entire leg numb? That'd be a very bad and dangerous story. One which Suki didn't want to deal with, nor would blame Frank for wanting to avoid either.

" ... Alright then. If you're taking a detour, I'm gonna go back to sleep for a bit. Unless ... you'd rather me remain awake?"

Mainly for company purposes, though maybe there were some medical ones too. Suki knew there were specific moments to encourage a patient to remain awake. After a concussion was one instance. After a near-death experience?

She had no idea. And even if Frank wasn't a licensed doctor, he had been in her shoes likely far more times than Suki could begin to count or think about. This was another one of those moments he'd have more experience and knowledge than herself. So, if he recommended continuing to talk ... she'd at least try. It'd be difficult, and probably a bit awkward.

After what they'd just survived and endured, it was hard to find much more to talk about.

But she'd at least make an effort if he insisted rest wasn't good for the time being. So ... Suki merely stayed laying on her back, waiting patiently for what Frank wanted her to do or not do.
 


Frank saw Suki starting to doeze, her words telling him that she wanted to sleep, he snapped his fingers towards her. "Hey, hey, I need you to stay awake right now." For multiple reasons, while she may have been exhausted mentally she probably had lost a bit of blood with her leg wound, so he needed her to stay awake so he could monitor that condition, he did not want to take the girl to a hospital too many questions. He knew one person who could treat an injury with fewer questions asked, but he didn't want to do that unless it was really needed.

So for now he was just keeping Suki awake on his own. "The police scanner." He reminded her, pointing at the phone he had tossed her. "I need you to use it because you speak cop Suki, I need you to find out what they are doing and if there is any mention of us. So you can't sleep yet."

He tried to keep her engaged, but his eyes had to focus on the road, like he had said he was driving a very winding road to get home, constantly checking the mirrors to make sure no one was tailing them. Just because frank was paranoid didn't mean he wasn't followed from time to time.
 

Suki groaned, rolling on her side and covering her ears as Frank rapidly snapped close to her ears. Maybe even right next to them. All Suki knew was the noise was more than loud enough to make her react like that. Her head turned as she looked at him, clearly both irritated and worn out.

"Goddamnit, Castle. Would five minutes really have killed you?"

As Suki's hands lifted to rub her eyes, she heard something plop beside her. One arm lowered, feeling around and eventually finding what she damn well nearly forgot about; the radio.

"That's right. You've got everything ready."

It was more of a statement, though with how exhausted she was, there was - admittedly - a small amount of sarcasm included within her quip. Her head shook as she chuckled softly. "I speak cop ... that's a new one. True, mind you, but ... never heard anyone else word it like that. Then again, it's like you've said before; I'm definitely not with 'anyone else'. Fuck that."

Fortunately, she hadn't turned the device on. So in case this was a two way radio, at least no one was hearing her speak in such a loopy condition.

"Fine ... okay, okay. Calm your jets, I'll wake my ass up .... though I'd prefer a Monster or something to help out with that. But I'll ... figure something else out, I guess."

After murmuring the last part, she waited for Frank to get any last words in before finally resting her fingers atop the button. She looked over, ready to ask something - a very curious inquiry that had entered her head. But ... that could wait, she decided.

This is so fucking weird .... to eavesdrop like this.

One final click echoed and finally, multiple voices could be heard. Even for Suki, not all were immediately recognized, though some did stand out.

"Franklin, report back! What is your status?!"

"Ten-ninety-seven, sir. We're definitely going to need much more than a few more squad cars."

"Elaborate, Franklin!"

"It seems like an arson, Mr. Thompson. There is a very huge possibility for multiple ten-fifty-fours."

"Goddamnit. Has an ambulance and fire truck been called?"

"Ten-four, sir. Both have been."

"Do we have any leads at all?"

"I'm talking with some of the neighbors now. One hinted there may be a possible ten-fourteen."

Suki swallowed, frowning. If she hadn't been awake, now she definitely was.

"Are you sure it was ten-fourteen?"

"That's what they think, anyway. They definitely saw someone heading out of the house with a woman in their arms."

"So we have an arson plus a possible two-hundred and seven?"

"From what I've gathered, maybe."

"Ten-four, Franklin. Keep in touch."

Suki let go, her head slowly shaking from side to side. "Long story short, they think you burned the place down then kidnapped me. At least that's how it looked to one person that, apparently, did kinda see us. Not enough to give a description to anyone, thankfully - that would have already been mentioned. But umm .... "

Suki let out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah. Fuck today indeed. Either way, some cops are definitely there and .... the investigation is under way as of now."
 

Frank listened to Suki as she listened to the radio, when she explained that they had been seen, but not enough to give an accurate description he was so happy that he had already ditched the van. It meant they were in the clear for the moment. When they explained that there was a possible kidnapping Frank couldn't help but chuckle, he supposed he understood why people would see it that way. He was kinda worried, He wasn't really worried. The old van had obscured plates, which meant that at most they would be looking for a black van, with very few identifying marks.

He made sure to cut across a few allyways that wouldn't have cameras, a few bypasses he knew cops wouldn't use, a winding path out of queens that would take hours to trace, if they found the ditched van in the locker with the other one, he could write off those two as a loss, but considering the place he used didn't have any cameras or a proper security system, he paid in cash for the storage area, and used the tame 'John Smith' he was pretty sure he would just end up leaving rather flustered and angry cops.

He had made sure to spray some bleach cleaner over the blood from her wound, so it wasn't like they would even get Suki or his DNA. With that he was confident that they could return to the apartment. "They will likely have to bring in federal agents, kidnappings usually involve 48 hour man hunts, that means I ain't leaving house for at least two days."

In a way frank was thankful it meant he got to take a day off as it were, stay out of trouble. "But you can go in and hand in your badge tomorrow, that will in a way keep you clean as it were." Frank would even offer to drive her to her workplace so she could quit, now was litterally the best time for them to do so.

Well once her leg was properly treated and she had a day of rest anyway.

"I can loan you a cane, if anyone asks, say it's because of the baseball bat attack." He would make sure that they both had their stories straight so that they could continue working together.

"Oh and Suki." He looked back at her. He was contemplating giving some sort of complement, like she did well, or she was brave, but they all sounded more patronizing than sincere. "I'm glad you survived." He said finally, just saying what he could, before focusing on the road, and taking them home.
 

"Oh don't worry. You didn't need to tell or even encourage me. Honestly, I would have done so today ... had everything that just recently occurred not happened."

But ... Fate had different plans for them both, it seemed. Now, she had to wait and have one of the most fun experiences any person could have in their life; getting a bullet extracted.

Yay me. Sooooo lucky. she thought bitterly, rolling her eyes at herself.

For all her strengths, knowing what was needing to be done made Suki sincerely nervous. The last time anyone had succeeded in putting a bullet in her? Some lucky prick in her military days, whom promptly got sniped down in response by her sister-in-arms. And there, in itself, was another factor only making her concerns all the more worse.

"So ... I'm guessing we're still following the 'no hospitals' rule, right? Then ... are you .... if not certified, at least ... "

Her head quickly shook as she temporarily stopped herself.

"I'm not trying to insult you or anything. I just wanna make sure that whoever works on me has had experience enough to get this fucking thought out properly. Especially if we're going to adhere to the 'no hospitals' rule."

Her eyebrows furrowed as the cane suggestion was brought up.

"I'll think on it," she muttered, the tone alone hinting why it was a 'maybe' instead of an outright 'yes' or 'no'. Pride. She didn't want to use it unless it was absolutely necessary, and in some regards, who could blame her? But the maybe at least indicated she knew that if it was needed, she'd swallow it and accept help if push really did come down to shove.

A smile crossed her lips as she nodded in agreement.

"I'm glad also."

.... This would either be the best or worst time to even joke about this. But considering how the day had gone, she hoped Frank could appreciate the attempt at humor, even if it may be slightly inappropriate.

"You ... are one hell of a kisser, Frank. I know that's not officially what you do in CPR, but ... you've probably heard that jest at least once. I know I did when I had to get certified in it."

And at least for the time being, Suki left it at that. She didn't likely need to expand on the topic anymore, and even if that weren't the issue? She really was tired. And would likely only get completely - or mostly - exhausted after they returned back.

Which, apparently, happened a lot sooner than she expected. Within ten to twenty minutes of trying to joke with Castle, the van came to a halt. Suki's eyes closed for a few seconds, slowly reopening as she steeled and prepared herself, knowing exactly what was going to happen almost immediately after Frank helped her back inside his place.
 

"Yeah, well if you stop bleeding everywhere I might kiss you again." Frank said responding to the humor, mostly because he thought keeping her spirits up would help her emotionally.


First and foremost he brought her to the cleanest room he had. Not wanting to risk any chance of infection he put her in the bathroom, after he ran blisteringly hot water over the bath tub to make absolutely sure his work environment was sterile. She asked him if he was certified and he was. He had done this sort of thing before. "I've taken out some of my own bullet wounds before this should be a lot easier for me." He said knowing that it would be more difficult for her though. He looked at where the wound was. Her pants would have to come off.

He set her down in the bath tub, and worked to pull down her jeans, ripping, and even cutting the fabric with some scissors so that he didn't have to disturb the wound anymore than he had too.

Checking the wounds location she was lucky it had hit the outside of her leg. If it had been the inside of her leg she'd likely be dead as that was where the major artories were. He made no comment about her panties, the blood made the scene significantly less sexy. He did however notice that her panties were on smoothly, meaning there was no body hair under them, he could even note how the panties were pressed tightly to her, so now it left little to the imagination of what her body looked like without them.

He didn't comment, he had work to do. He had the medical kit, applying gloves to his hands so that he didn't make anything dirty, he ran some hot water over the wound cleaning the area around it, causing her some pain but now at least he could see more clearly. He used a flashlight which he held in his mouth, while he used a tweezer to do the really hard part of the extraction.

He tried to be quick, about this, as every second would be a living hell for the woman. Still extracting metal from the body was a tedius task, and more so when the bullet had fragmented, he had to get every single piece out or risk further infection after the wound was sealed, and he was doing all of it without pain medications for her. He wouldn't blame her if she passed out or even puked because of the pain, he had the first time he had done this to himself.

What's more he wasn't a trained doctor, and they didn't have modern facility access. He had a tray to put the fragments in as he got them, the largest chunks out first, then the smaller ones. But there was zero way that this wouldn't leave a scar down the line for her.

He pulled out the last few fragments. "Now comes the really unpleasant part." He said softly, if she had wondered what he meant he took a towel, pressing it to her leg, and then poored peroxide over the wound. The substance would clean out the last of the wound, make sure it was sterile so he could start to close it, but it was probably the worst part yet.

Then came the closing of the wound, and this was something frank was so practiced in that was almost an art form for him. He had the wound closed in only a few minutes, with stitching that gave her mobility back.

He ran the water over her one more time this time warmer stuff to clean off the blood, and then fell back onto the toilet seat so that he could take a breath. "How was that?"
 

"Okay. I guess let's get this over wi --- hey!!!"

Suki sighed, looking less than pleased as the scissors were pulled out and used to remove her denims. But ... she kept her hands away to avoid having her actual flesh getting cut, raising them beside her head.

"Okay ... fine. They weren't my favorite pair anyway."

It was the best way to compromise with being forced to lose clothes, let alone in such an unwanted manner. Thankfully, she didn't often splurge on herself, and had quite a bit of money saved in her accounts. She could easily replace that and get more outfits for herself. Probably after officially leaving the force. It'd definitely give her something more pleasant to do tomorrow.

Nodding at the thought, she tried to ignore the fact Frank was staring at her half-nude.

At least he can't see underneath, she reassured herself, not realizing that was somewhat incorrect. Maybe not see, but he had picked up on the rather intimate secret she kept from everyone else. Suki did get herself waxed every month ... three at the absolute longest. But she typically tried to stick to her routine and would make such arrangements at one.

... If I'm gonna quit the force tomorrow, I'm gonna need to figure a side job out.

... That could be worked on, as well. Gods, she didn't realize up until now just how long her to-do list had suddenly gotten.

" ... You sure you don't want me to get the flashlight at least? Ooooooooooooooooooooookay, FUCK, FINE!"

The scream hadn't meant to be an angry one. No, Frank would recognize it was a very, very agonized one. Right when she asked, he'd already started the extraction process ... and it proved why he was holding the flashlight instead of her. She likely would have dropped the damn thing. Her hands gripped tightly onto the sides of the tub as she began taking deep breaths, shifting between whether they came from her nose or mouth.

Passing out seemed like the more likely option. No puking though. Suki had never been squeamish, not even prior to joining the Army. That actually helped her know signing up was a smart idea, if anything. But about halfway through the process, her eyes were beginning to go through a very fast REM cycle. It had been way too long, and up until a few moments ago, she'd forgotten how all of this felt.

... And quickly remembered why getting shot was a literal pain.

But this? This was worse.

Granted, she'd expected it to be pretty shitty. There was a lot she'd mentally planned for. The jeans coming off had been one ... just not necessarily with scissors. But ... that did have a point that she could understand. This agony? Oh yeah. She also knew it would happen. Suki just never thought it'd be quite this extreme.

Then again, this was the difference in being treated with anesthesia - or any type of medicine - versus without having that luxury.

A weak groan was all she could muster as Frank gave her the heads up. Her eyes shut ... and that may have actually made the part with the peroxide worse, as her sense of touch had heightened from depriving herself of sight. Even though she'd screamed a lot, another one still rang throughout the bathroom ... lasting a good minute before finally dying down.

" ... I ... hope ... this place is sound proof or has walls that can't ... easily be heard through ... " she finally managed to respond, weakly coughing and chuckling. "It'd otherwise sound like a lot worse treating a wound."

A few tears fell down her face as she opened her eyes and gave a shaky breath, a nod quickly following afterwards.

"Yo-You definitely passed. Fuck yes, you do know how to do this. Noted. Now let ... let's hope you don't have to again. Because fuck ... this is not my idea of fun. It really isn't. I'm not that crazy, promise ... even if I have done some really stupid shit before."
 

"It's not sound proof." He said nodding the walls here were far too shit for them to be sound proofed, and he hadn't wanted to invest the money he didn't have to sound proof it himself like he had with the vans. "No, it's got something better."

"This building is full of drug dealers, No one here is gonna call the cops." Where better for him to hide but somewhere no one would call the cops, or look into their neighbors because they were all doing something illegal, though he made sure that he had kept it all minor offenses, the sex offenders, the thugs, those had all been taken care of in one way or another. And he had made sure that the other people here all knew it.

That made it very easy to hide, even if he had to keep his neighbors under watchful eyes, but that was fine, the gheto was a pretty easy place to make things happen. He supposed with all the screaming it had sounded a bit like he had tortured her. He helped her out of the tub, walking her to the living room sitting her down on the sofa, and then going to get her a cup of juice.

He figured what she needed right now was something with a bit of natural sugars something healthy, she had lost a lot of blood, applejuice of all things would help in that regard. He passed her the cup, and helped her take a drink. "if you don't wanna go through this again, don't get shot." He said softly.

He sat down next to her. gently touching her good thigh. "You gave me a real scare today." He pat her thigh for a moment, unsure what more he could say, he didn't want to get all into the emotional crap. Her leg was probably killing her, she needed sleep.

"I'll take you to your bed, give you an advil, and you can sleep it off." He said softly picking her up a second time, walking to her bed, and setting her down finding the bottle of advil he kept, and putting it on the table for her to take one. He looked at her for a moment, leaning in, pressing his lips to her forehead, as he tucked her in. In a way it kinda reminded him of his daughter, or maybe his ex wife. either way it was a scene he kind of liked.
 

"Better?"

Suki weakly rose an eyebrow, looking up at Frank curiously, albeit with half-open eyes. "What the fuck's better than soundproof?"

She had no idea if his reply made her more nervous or, indeed, relieved. He wasn't wrong, after all. If this area was full of addicts and drug sellers, then why would they bother calling and reporting what sounded like an ongoing murder?

Wow, that's umm ... several million shades of dark and fucked up.

"You know?" she answered, weakly shrugging, "At this rate? I'll take any and all blessings I'm getting at this rate. Just ... hopefully they don't pester you and knock constantly on your door, because I'm not touching whatever they're using, selling, whatever."

A quick walk later and Suki found herself plopped on the same couch where she'd typed notes and leads on the laptop. A hand shakily rose to her face, managing to rub her eyes. Had she gotten weaker over the years, or did bullet extractions just normally drain a person that fucking much? She couldn't tell ... but she sure as fuck prayed it was only option B. She'd already looked pretty pathetic time and time again to Frank.

Now? He'd nearly seen her die.

What kinda fucking vet are you, anyway?

... Would any of this have been better to handle had she taken up the offer to join the Green Berets? Suddenly, she was regretting not taking that opportunity up. Unfortunately, she hadn't just randomly insisted she liked being around Frank. On the contrary, Suki meant it ... and that was the real thing keeping her from going back to the military after turning her badge and gun in.

Still, she would need to figure a new occupation out. That was a given, but ... what?

Ex-soldiers like herself and Frank tended to do best in equally violent positions. The urge and desire to fight didn't usually leave people who had a military background, and Suki was no exception to this rule.

Deciding to think more on that in the very near future, she looked up as Frank returned with some apple juice. A smile crossed her face as she bowed her head in appreciation and took the cup carefully into her hands. The grip had some help ... but she accepted it. Even before she tried to hold onto it, she could feel her body shaking, and while being half-nude, wet, and cold was part of the equation, that wasn't all.

All of the pain she had felt - and in some regards, was still feeling - was getting to her. That plus the blood loss made what should be simple tasks more difficult than usual.

"Thank you," she managed to reply. Her eyes closed and ... truthfully, the idea of swapping where she slept for one night was more than fine with her. She was exhausted ... and it probably wasn't even noon yet. But fuck her if the poor Asian wasn't tired as all hell, as well as sore.

"You don't have to ... " she tried to protest, the words coming out in a low tone as Frank hoisted her up into his arms. "I know ... I scared myself, if it helps. It wasn't just you. And ... " A soft chuckle passed her lips, eyes staying shut as she continued, "We got targets on us, remember? Mine's just a bit more obvious at the moment than yours. But yeah, don't get shot? You make that sound way too easy. Especially when we're not done with these pricks."

By the time she was put on the bed, Suki was clinging onto the last bits of her consciousness. She barely registered the kiss ... but she definitely didn't get a chance to take the Advil.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

12th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: NYPD Headquarters
9:46 AM EST

But to make up for not properly taking the painkillers, that was what the rest of yesterday consisted of; more bed rest than she'd wanted and ensuring the remainder of the day went by as painlessly as possible.

And now?

Well ... she had a promise to keep. One she wasn't overly happy with doing, but ... Suki knew it was the right thing to do. The past 'incidents' ... they just didn't sit well with her. None of them had since the parking garage incident.

It had been a bit hilarious to remind Frank he promised to remain inside the next few days. It visibly irked him, and it showed. He had wanted to drive her over.

"I appreciate it, but .... I can get a taxi. I won't be long. Promise."

With those having been the last words she uttered to Castle, she now found herself half-walking, half-limping through the halls of what was going to be her ex-work place. Thankfully, Suki knew exactly where to go, and there were more than enough elevators to make the trip shorter.

Right before her fist could land atop Holland's door, a hand fell on her shoulder, causing Suki to jump slightly. Behind her was the very man she had been looking for; her captain, Trey Holland.

"Kimura? It hasn't been two weeks yet."

"Captain ... well ... " Suki cleared her throat, nodding to the door, "Mind if we talk more inside?"

"Of course. Sure."

The door was opened and quickly closed behind them. Suki took a seat across from Holland, removing the dufflebag that had been resting over her right shoulder.

"So .... the hell is all of that, anyway?"

"The reason I'm here. It's all yours now."

Holland's eyebrow rose as he took the bag and opened it ... before looking back up to Suki with a very disheartened look. "You sure?" he asked. "This is your badge, gun, outfits ... "

"I know," Suki interrupted, giving a firm nod. "And ... I'm not overly happy about this decision, either. But .... I can't get over it, sir. Knowing there are dirty cops ... I can't work with people whom I can't trust anymore. I ... I never had this issue in the Army. Never. I just .... " Her head continued to move from side to side. "I can't. I'm sorry."

A somber pause lingered as Trey looked deep into Suki's eyes. It was obvious he was thinking. Long and hard, at that rate. His hands tucked themselves under his chin as he continued staring at Kimura.

"So ... is there nothing I can say or do to change your mind? You were one of our best."

"I appreciate your words Captain, but no. This is what I spent a good chunk of my vacation doing; contemplating if I even wanted to return or not. It wasn't an easy choice. It really wasn't. But .... "

Suki nodded firmly again.

"This is the best thing for me."

"I don't like it, but .... alright. I understand."

Trey elicited a deep exhale before slowly extending his hand out. Suki weakly grinned and accepted the handshake, intertwining her own hand with his. "It's been a pleasure. This is a shame, but you're right. What happened is no excuse. With you being a civilian now, I promise - I intend to fix the force. I wouldn't want to lose anyone else like I did you for the exact same reason."

"I appreciate that. Thank you, sir."

After pulling her hand away, Suki stood up and exited the building. She was mere steps away from reaching the taxi. She had, naturally, asked for it to wait outside for her. But right before she could get inside, another hand fell on her shoulders. When she turned, Booker was behind her this time.

"You're really leaving huh?"

"Yeah."

Booker's tongue clicked as he shook his head. "Just .... answer me something before you go. Is this really all because of Sutherland?"

" ... Still on about that?" Suki's arms went over her chest. "Do you even have anything for that? Actual proof linking me to whatever you're speaking of? A warrant? Anything?"

"No, but --- "

"But, nothing. That means I have no obligation to answer, so I'm not going to. Even more so with something I have no real clue what you're talking about in the first place."

Suki jerked herself away, shooting Booker one last irritated glare. "You know, it's this exact lack of trust that made me leave. You can tell Holland that if you so desire."

After declaring that, she shut the door, buckling herself in and nodding to the driver. "Back to where you picked me up from, please."

Twenty minutes later - mainly due to morning rush hour traffic - Frank would see from outside one of the windows a taxi returning. The door opened and sure enough, Suki would emerge from the vehicle. She handed over some bills before pivoting and walking back up towards the door.
 

While Suki was out quitting her old job Frank had decided to do some house cleaning, getting things a bit more tidy especially the bathroom which was still a mess after yesterdays impromptu surgery. After that was done, and the bathroom was once again clean enough that he didn't feel like he was going to be taking a shower in a gore pit, he had settled onto the desk, opening the computer and starting to compile everything that they knew so far.

He had started with a bust on human traffickers, the women being escorted and sold apparently all had ties to the NYPD, and were either missing peoples that no one cared about, cold cases, or in some instances people that the NYPD had already rescued. He had killed the man whom was about to abduct Suki back then, she had called for back up, but none had ever arrived.

Moving on Suki had been attacked, nearly raped by an officer in the carlot of the NYPD's precinct one, the largest NYPD building apparently didn't have cameras working that day because no one had been able to see the assault on film, it was starting to look like someone really wanted Suki dead. There was also the question about how Sutherland had known about the blindspot, had it always been there? or did he have help? was a camera turned off? and if so why?

Frank chewed it over for a moment. In both instances it seemed Suki was the common factor, then you had Sutherlands house, the shoot out. The Mafia had targetted Sutherlands wife, the moment they had taken him out. Was he on the hit list because he had failed to kill Suki? Had they just beaten the mob to Sutherland and he had already been a target or did they go there because they realized that someone had gotten to Sutherland first?

and why?

It certainly seemed that someone was after Suki, and maybe they could use that as bait to figure out who was targetting them, the only question was how?

He doubted that Suki would have liked to be bait for some sort of trap, but it was looking more and more like that would be the best option if they wanted to actually make progress in this case.

The only question was how?

Suki arrived from the cab, he still wished that she had let him drive her, the van had been switched out. They had completely avoided traffic cameras for a while before and after the switch out, and the cars had been driven in different ways with different licence plates. As far as he could see no progress had been made on the kidnapping charge, mostly because it was bullshit.

He waited for Suki to get in the door and waved her over. "I think it's pretty clear people are targeting you." He said softly.

"I think we should give them a way to find you. Setting up some sort of sting operation." As far as he could see that was their best move going forward. In every instance Suki was the connection. "Once your fully recovered we should work out a way to set up a trap."
 

Suki's head shook, a light snicker passing her lips. "You really are Mister Unorthodox, aren't ya? No 'welcome back'. Nope, not from you. Instead, immediately hit with news that was pretty much being spelled out in front of my face already."

Suki shrugged, unable to argue with his conclusion he'd come up with.

"Yeah. I figured. I've likely put a target on myself since the very first pier incident."

What she wouldn't expect, however, is for Frank to suggest using her as bait. Thankfully by now, the door had been shut, which allowed her exasperated sigh to go unnoticed - at least by sets of ears and eyes she would have been worried about hearing her. She plopped down onto the couch, her head shaking a few more times ... before softly chuckling.

"Don't ... don't start proving your friend right about being around you, now. It'd be a shame if he convinced me to try to sneak away for my own sake, don't ya think? For real though ... I'll agree, and for one simple reason."

She nodded sternly right at Frank.

"You're still a wild card, since the only person who could have relayed you're helping me out is dead. So ... you can back me up like you have before. Honestly? There's a good chance that once I start a new job or routine - maybe even both - they'll track my movements. For all we know, maybe they have been. The only reason I can see them not doing so is to keep other 'clean' NYPD from properly tracing their exact members. So, if they haven't done anything related with me, there's a good chance the other mafia members have been blending into society somehow."

She took a moment to think on her own guess before slowly nodding.

"But for right now? Mind if I avoid thinking about that? I literally just gave everything up, and I'd be lying if I didn't confess I feel .... kinda vulnerable right now. I wasn't a civilian for very long after finishing up with the Army, and the only reason I was at all was to complete NYPD's Academy training. I forgot how weird it feels to have 'civilian' status. Kinda scary, too."

Her eyes fell upon the laptop, noting it was opened. And given it had been closed for obvious reasons last night, it was fair to assume Frank had used this not long ago.

"Find anything I may have missed out? A more definite idea who's in charge of this mafia? They're definitely a lot more organized than previous versions I've seen or heard of, so that alone implies someone very smart. Possibly an ex-vet. I wouldn't be amazed if they are, and definitely with a more ... 'brutal' group, so to speak. Ones accustomed to resorting to dire methods like execution or taking prisoners."
 


Frank understood why she wouldn't want to talk about what had happened. She called herself a civilian and he paused for a moment. He supposed he never really thought about that. He had left the military but he had never left the war zone, and he didn't really consider himself a civilian at all. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. It was at least a little bad he supposed that he had never actually calmed down in any regard. The scary thought about settling down was that it seemed impossible now. Every time he tried not to get involved he ended up getting pulled into some kind of massive conspiracy.

He leaned back against the sofa as she asked questions about who was in charge. He looked at the computer for a moment and shrugged. "Maybe?" He said truthfully he wasn't sure if he did know or not. But he supposed any lead was better than none. "Organized crime in new york has a lot of names attached to it." As he spoke he pulled up the daily bugle archives. "Which means that a lot of the people who do trafficking tend to have their names come up from time to time. I've been making a searches and calls trying to figure out who or what we could be dealing with."

The best he had found were some articles written by the daily bugle he didn't really trust the paper, it was more a house of liable these days. When J Johna had left he had taken the last shred of dignity the paper had with it, but he still pulled it out from time to time. "I was trying to look into cases that Seth worked, he was a rookie but he was still attatched to one or two higher profile cases mostly as an assisting detective. The NYPD has been trying to keep the busts under wraps but I found this published today

He pointed her towards the article he had found. The photo was a graduation picture of detective sutherland.

Rookie detective's last case shakes community.

Detective Seth Sutherland respected member of his community went missing on the 10th of September his car found in the parking lot of the gym he had frequented, followed by a fire at his home which tragically resulted in the death of Sutherlands wife on the eleventh. The NYPD was not forth coming in the exact causes of the fire, but sources have disclosed the contents of Sutherlands final case, which marked several human trafficking busts that were carried out two days prior to Sutherland's disappearance. Detectives of the NYPD have placed the blame on this years white whale of crime, the crimeboss tombstone.

Frank pulled up some related searches. "Ever heard of him? Considering we killed Sutherland, having his death blamed by a third party is pretty good for us, but looking up tombstone he seems to be an organized crime bogyman of sorts. The handle shows up on everything from drugs, to guns, and apparently it's branched out to women in the last five years."
 

A slight grimace appeared on Suki's face as the 'maybe' response came up. Granted, it'd be better than nothing at all. Still though, were these bastards actually that good? That little to no trail was available for them to follow? Normally, this wouldn't bother the newly resigned cop, but it was exactly because of all that had happened within the past week .. had it already been that long? Almost, if not a week, since meeting Frank, when the target had been officially placed on her back. Her hands tucked under her chin as she thought long and hard.

This wasn't the first time she'd pissed off criminals or convicts. It kinda came with the job, really.

But it was the first time that people were actually retaliating back. Not only that, but they were succeeding in actually trying to scare and hurt her. And while Kimura wasn't immune to the unfortunate truth that there would never be a true end to crime - particularly organized such as the mafia - at least finding a way to weaken them was, now more so than ever, essential. Her life was literally depending on it, after all.

The frown only got worse as Frank tapped the recent Daily Bugle. It was one of the few forms of social media she used at all. The picture of Seth made her sigh. Ultimately, she still didn't regret her decision to kill him. Her biggest lament came in knowing that was the only right thing she could have done. Sparing him really had been out of the question.

Her head turned as she looked silently at Frank ... trying to quietly ask him if that article had an actual point to it aside from taunting her.

.. Nah. Not his style. After her mind felt confident about that much, she nodded and forced herself to pick the paper up and begin reading it.

" ... Tombstone?" she repeated, the tone indicating he was a new name to her. "I ... am unsure if we're having the best or worst possible luck right now. The lack of attention on us is great, but ..."

Suki lightly patted the paper.

"If he is actually out and about ... and has seen this, then .... "

The sentence remained unfinished. Suki felt confident Frank would be able to complete it without her help. It was simple, really, and the thought made her internally groan.

As if this fucking target wasn't huge enough, she bitterly thought, slowly setting the Bugle down and moving the mouse to wake the laptop up. "Still, as it is ... he is the only real lead, so here goes, I suppose."

To say Suki was very amazed to find she could still log into the NYPD database was an understatement. In fact, her eyes widened. She had literally just come back from giving her badge and gun over to Holland. Had something happened in the span of leaving the building and coming back here? It was odd - very much so - that she was able to log in. Suki had seriously expected to see the "ACCESS DENIED" screen.

But she wasn't ... and although this set off a lot of alarms in her head, this was - sadly - the best way to ensure they got the most accurate and correct information on this Tombstone person. Google could only do so much by itself, and most other searches would require her to pay for an in-depth background check and all that jazz. Hell, even then, there was no guarantee she'd get the real deal, so to speak.

So while she was taking the very risky route, this was also the best one.

And sure enough .... she and Frank would both be staring at a very albino face, which - in itself - made Suki scoot back instinctively.

"That ... that can't be normal. Not without a medical explanation."

Her head shook as she took a slight breath before moving forward again, beginning to read through his file. And finally ... one very specific name would stand out. One that was familiar not only to herself, but Frank Castle.

Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin.

She lightly tapped the name on the screen, raising an eyebrow curiously. "He does have the right boss, mindset, and capability, apparently. And with Fisk still in jail ... he would need someone who's still on the outside to operate his unfinished businesses. Of course, this could just be a really crazy coincidence, but ..."

Suki turned, looking right into Frank's eyes with a deathly serious look.

"I don't believe that's what we're looking at. They may have been stupidly pointing fingers, but I do think - for once - the force has the right idea. What do you think?"
 
Frank looked at the image of Tombstone, the albino face, and the broad shoulders. The man was a massive beast. Muscular, tall, he looked like he could crush another mans hand with one of his own. Frank had to agree with Suki, but there were explanations beyond just medical experimentation. He knew a lawyer who could see with his hearing, and a woman with unnatural strength, they lived in a city with some frankly weird shit going on. Still he looked at the image and sighed.

"Tombstone, L Thompson Lincoln, this is not someone I'm familiar with, but I've met Fisk." Frank recalled the prison meeting, and a fist fight that felt like he had been punching sandbags, fisk's fists had felt like bricks against his bone, and yet if he had to judge between the two men, between Fisk and Tombstone he wasn't sure which of the two of them would be stronger. It was an odd feeling placing third in the one place he had genuine skill.

"Fisk told me that he wanted me on the outside, to kill the people running the streets. That my mission would soften up the streets for his return, and he would be back in power stronger than ever. Fisk is the one who let me out of prison, because I was too dangerous to keep contained, and too difficult to kill." He wasn't sure if that meant he owed the other man anything. In Frank's mind that meant that the two had been building up to another conflict.

"Eventually we both knew that meant that when he got out i'd be gunning for him, and aside form the fact that he has to wear orange Kingpin has the entire prison under his control from the guards, to the inmates. A few crooked cops hiding his bracket would be really easy for him to manage, and this guy... Lincoln... He doesn't fall far from that tree."

"The only big thing to ask here is if that's their racket at the moment. Look at the rap sheet." Frank pointed down to a list of priors, Lincoln only had suspected offenses, for some reason no one would ever testify against him, Frank didn't exactly have to wonder why that was considering the look of the man. "They are mostly drug, and weapon related. Pimping, human trafficking that would be pretty new to the guy's business chain. Not really impossible businesses tend to branch out over time, but this is a rather big swing if it is him."

So was Lincoln just another player or was he an organizer? it presented them with a new avenue tracking him down wouldn't be too difficult, but if they made a display of it than they could end up in hot water. They would probably need to be a bit stealthy for this one. "Can you clear the search history so that the NYPD don't know you looked this up? I'd rather they not follow our leads."
 

Suki nodded, a grim expression appearing on her normally calm and stoic face as Frank began to relay his own encounter with Fisk. That was both interesting and equally nerve-wracking to learn. If even someone as strong and charismatic as Fisk had found and approached Frank Castle ... who else had he gone to? The NYPD had been trying to find this question out for quite a while.

In fact, prior to the Italian mafia popping up - and looking more organized than ever before - this had been the task originally assigned to Suki, as well as a number of cops. But not only was the trafficking worse, Fisk was still, as Frank relayed, in jail. So it was easy to see what was deemed to be more important and the much higher threat.

"Well, I, for one, am very glad you shot down Fisk's offer. He's been nothing but trouble, and even while still in prison, he hasn't exactly been the easiest inmate to tolerate; or so I heard a few times."

The last part of the sentence implied she hadn't been one of the cops who personally went to the cells and checked up on Fisk. But she had been kept in the loop and knew that some of her now ex-coworkers had the massive misfortune of having to tolerate everything about Wilson Fisk; from his mere presence to attitude and everything in between.

Frank's words redirecting Suki to the here and now helped her leave her thoughts. She leaned forward, frowning slightly as the young Asian noticed .... he was right. Everything Tombstone had been charged with were on a completely different playing field than that of human trafficking. So why, indeed, would he resort to such measures? Only one answer immediately popped into Suki's head ... though it was a very unappealing thought.

"If he's doing crimes he has never typically attempted before .... then there's likely an exchange system going on. Although we have primarily been dealing with the Italians, there's probably at least two - maybe more - factions out and about. In order to gain trust between one another, one group is requesting certain items; drugs, women, and so on. Group B - let's say in this example it's the Italians - go out and gather them for Group A. Group A, meanwhile, provides the drugs and everything that B requests. Not only do they establish trust with one another, both parties get what they want. And it seems they've found a way to execute these crimes relatively low under the NYPD's radar."

A shiver trailed down Suki's spine as she elicited a shaky breath.

"Not an overly happy thought to even consider, but it's the only thing that really starts making sense. It would also explain why some of the women have been targeted on a constant basis. Whomever A is ... they specifically want them. Who they are, who is leading them, or what their end goal is?"

Suki shrugged.

"I have a few guesses, but nothing definite. Still ... assuming this theory holds any truth to it, we may have another lead that we can use. Likely whenever you wish to execute your plan to use me as bait."

A small chuckle finally passed her lips as she heard Frank inquire if she could clear the history to keep the fact she'd logged on a secret. "Don't tell me you thought I was going to let them find that out for free? Come now, Frank. That's one of the few things you don't need to tell me twice ... or even once. Yes, yes I can."

Not that she enjoyed manipulating the system like this. But logging on at all had been a necessary evil of sorts. With them finally getting the first clue in what felt like forever, she wasn't simply going to ignore it. Although ... it did bring up a new thought that entered her head, which had tilted as she finished exiting the system.

"It's interesting they're trying to blame someone who typically deals with drugs and the like for murdering a cop. We don't even know if he's with the mafia at all. It's definitely not like the NYPD to just randomly point fingers."

So ... why had they done that at all?

Now Suki knew something was very wrong. From being able to still log in to hearing the hasty assumptions from her ex-coworkers ... something wasn't right. And it felt like the issue was more than worrying about a few more dirty cops. Were some of the NYPD compromised by Fisk? That made her grimace.

Well ... whether that's true or not, it seems like you got out at the best possible time.

A very unfortunate - but also necessary - evil, as well as revelation.

There would be an almost three minute pause ... before Suki would finally speak up once more. And likely brought up a question that even Frank wouldn't have immediately expected to hear.

"You think it'd be wise for me to go to Seth and Anna's funeral? Seth may have been a prick, but someone guilty of crimes like murder doesn't typically appear at their victim's funerals. So I'm hoping my presence will remove some suspicion. But ... there's just also the simpler fact that even if he wasn't a clean one, he was still a cop. And Anna ..."

Her eyes softened.

"She never should have been dragged into this in the first damn place."
 

"Most likely it's a power play." Frank said leaning back into his seat, his eyes drifted up to the ceiling. People like Fisk or Tombstone were hard to touch, actually they were nearly impossible to touch through regular means. Tombstone probably had enough protection, and money left over from running Fisk's empire that he would be very difficult to go after. This was the problem with organized crime, it was all so organized.

Costumed idiots got costumed villains, the kinds that broke a ton of rules, or existed outside of the law through various means. They were easier to track, easier to deal with or take out, and didn't have messy reprecussions. No batted an eye when someone with a costume calls down lightning bolts anymore, but try to take down a gang leader and you have to deal with every single one of their minions. So pointing the blame at Tombstone and thus fisk for the death of a cop was a play that put them on edge.

"It's easier for someone to go after a wanted man's territory and resources. By calling Tombstone a cop killer the majority of cops won't bat an eye if people under his employ go missing. Likely someone in one of our two group scenario wants to make a move on Tombstone without causing too much fuss, take over his side of the business. When criminals work together it's always in the short term. To cut the most profit, and eventually someone sees an opportunity to take the entire pie."

Frank mused it over. "That probably means that a gang war will be starting up soon, if Tombstone can't hold onto his territory with the cops after him than there will be a lot of fighting, and a lot of people will end up getting hurt because of it." Anyway he looked at it a power vacuum when they were trying to force out an unknown group of criminals was not a good thing. Using Suki would give them a clue as to who the group was, but maybe they didn't have to go that far.

"Perhaps, if these guys are the enemy of Fisk, than he would be willing to share the information he has on them?" The idea of asking Fisk for anything was disgusting, but Frank had to pay the man back for some of the bruises that he had gotten the last time Fisk and him had crossed paths.

"You want some dinner?" He got up and started to walk to the kitchen. "We can work out the plans as I cook us something to eat."
 

It took every bit of willpower not to chuckle. Poor Frank was probably focused as all hell on the more pressing issue, and that all revolved around this Tombstone character. Deep down, Suki had a feeling her inquiry about whether to attend the Sutherland's funeral hadn't likely been ignored. But ... it was hard not to simply jump to that conclusion.

Still, even while Frank spoke, Suki felt herself leaning more and more towards 'no' the more she considered the idea. Although her logic about guilty people not appearing at such events could work for her, it could also bite her in the ass. And she had been working for the NYPD. Even if some of her co-workers acted and even sounded like idiots, most were smart in all honesty. At least one of them would likely ask questions, and all would be the type she wouldn't wanna hear nor be forced to reply to.

Okay, maybe not all of them, but ... still. Point very much made.

Nodding to herself, Suki snuck a glance down at her leg. If for nothing else - least of all her discretion - she'd feel less guilty about skipping the funeral for her own sake. If she and Frank were going to keep this partnership functioning, a few things had to happen, and one of them involved her being as close to one-hundred percent well as humanly possible. Suffice to say, the newest bullet wound had all but ensured Suki would have to start over on the healing process.

The thought made her elicit a very frustrated sigh. That plus ... just hearing all of Frank's musings. Because, unfortunately, most - if not all - of them were probably right.

"Power play is a given when it comes to factions or gangs, so ... yep. Very likely. Our earlier talk about Group A providing Group B with one particularly supply and demand while the other gives another set of items? That's likely exactly what we're seeing. I'm ... ninety-five percent sure about that, in fact, maybe a bit higher."

Which then led her to the 'now what do we do?' part of the plan.

Suki grimaced. As quickly as ideas tried to rush through her mind, they simultaneously began to give her a less-than-desired headache. Her hand rose as she rubbed her temple, silently listening to everything else Frank was relaying and mentally tucking it all away. In the end, though, she only found one appropriate answer to offer, "I'm not saying we don't discuss this. That's stupid. But ... maybe not now? I really am kinda .... "

Her hand tilted in the air, helping emphasize her feelings.

"It's not exactly the most pleasant set of thoughts to dwell on, ya know? Or ... maybe not, huh? You've likely been through way worse than I have, haven't you?"

The faintest of smirks crossed her lips as she leaned back against the couch. Oh yeah. That sense of vulnerability? If it hadn't been hitting her before now? Oh man, was it ever smacking her really fucking roughly. And it did not feel great for Suki. Maybe if she had her gun from her place nearby, sure. But as things were? She was considered a 'normal civilian' to all of New York now.

Frank was but one of the small handful of people who even knew the kind of woman Suki used to be. From ex-military to now ex-cop. Otherwise she would appear like all of the other 'normal' individuals who resided in this massive city.

Still, knowing that the other group of people who knew the truth about Suki were not only here, but unknown to both her and Frank?

That was a legitimately terrifying thought. One she wanted to avoid dwelling on for too long, if doable.

"Anyway, yeah, mind if we put that talk on hold? I'd rather just ... take your offer on dinner and .... chill. Watch a movie online or something, perhaps? I promise, though, that I'll devote a day to talking more in-depth on all of this. It just ... it also feels like it may be simpler to do when my leg's somewhat, if not completely, better. Does that seem fair enough?"

Adding those last few sentences would, hopefully, make for a fair enough compromise. It definitely seemed sound enough in her mind, anyway. So now she had to wait to hear if Frank would agree or not on her train of thought.
 
"Yeah lets take this moment to rest up." Of course Frank thought going to Sutherlands funeral was a bad idea. The southerland house had burned down, and the man had been a criminal cop, most of the people who went would either be his co-workers or criminal accomplaces, and all it would take would be one person to get Suki alone with them. A funeral in general was a bit weird since they would never find Southerlands body. He didn't even know if the man's wife had any family to burry her with, but considering she had been abused in southerlands own words it would be unlikely that she would have many people to burry her as well.

the entire thing was just a sad event that the two need not go anywhere near. "We can shelve this for a few days." He agreed.

Frank didn't blame her for not wanting to go over this again and again. It felt a bit like the two of them were running in circles, and the truth was the two of them weren't going to be doing much until she had fully recovered from her leg wound speaking of which, as he got up from the couch he turned towards her. "Do you want some advil for the pain?" He knew how bad being shot could be, but he also wasn't about to give her anything higher than over counter advil. Her personality was strong, but he didn't want to risk any future dependancy to pain killers if they could avoid it. He supposed that he was going to be acting as her doctor for the next few days.

Walking into the kitchen, frank felt an odd sense of euphoria as he started to look over what they had. He didn't have much in the way of food but it had been a very long time since he had cooked any meals for anyone other than himself. Tonight he could actually go all out and try to make something the two of them could enjoy. It was a simple thing, but having someone he could share a more domestic moment with actually brought him a sense of happiness, it made him think about his old family, but only for a few seconds before he burried that thought.

This wasn't a date, or anything like that. It felt weird cooking that wasn't Maria, and he didn't want to dig up old wounds when he was so close to being happy. So of course burrying it just brought up one question into his head.

Would Maria have moved on by now if their positions had been reversed?

He started to cook dinner, using whatever fresh greens he had to make something simple. He ended up choosing a quick stir fry using some fresh greens, and chicken, a can of peas, and a few other canned vegtables he had on hand. He put it on two plates, satisfied with it, for the moment. He walked towards her and put the plate onto the table as she pulled up Netflix. "It's been a while since I cooked for anyone, so I hope you enjoy." He set it on the table in front of them, and sat down next to her.
 
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