human
Suki Kimura
1st September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: NYPD Headquarters
17:48 PM EST
Crime was nothing new to New York. In fact, when had itnotbeen an issue for the city of New York?Thatwas the million dollar question. Sadly, the answer wasn't much of a mystery. So even for those who knew the right response, no one would be given what could be considered easy money. But then again, that was neither here nor there. Even while sitting in the break room, twenty-five year old Suki Kimura knew well enough the upcoming meeting would be what her main focus had to be on.
Whispers on the exact mission had been going around the office. Just like the concept of crimes were nothing new, a similar concept applied to secrets. Those almost never, if ever, existed. And when they did, they were exposed very quickly to the public, typically through social media. That applied even to a workplace such as the NYPD.
Despite it being twenty eighteen, trafficking wasstillan issue.
Sad, really; it just didn't seem like something that anyone should have to suffer through.
But then, look at all the other bullshit going on, hmm? Suki mused, rolling her eyes at the thought.
"Why are you even using the break room if you're not eating or anything?"
A sly smirk spread on Suki's face as she turned behind her and saw herpartner. They'd been put with one another since Suki's very first day with the police. Most of the precinct had made a bet that Suki would never be able to cooperate - let alonework- with Jonathan Booker.
Suffice to say, a good number of cops lost a considerable amount of money when Suki's first month went by and she hadn't switched partners.
This wasn't to say she and Jonathan always got along. Nowhere close. However, they'd come to certain terms that made being assigned to one another more ... tolerable.
"I was. Already finished up. So now, I'm just waiting for the next ten or so minutes to go away so we can head to the conference room."
Jonathan shook his head, chuckling softly.
"You really love showing us up by entering right on time, don't ya?"
Suki shrugged, her smirk widening.
"Someone's gotta be a good example. Apparently, not many of you are, so .... "
Jonathan flashed Suki his own coy grin, nodding towards the clock across the way from them.
"Did you also fall asleep or something? Do we finally get to see the day Miss Kimura gets inside the conference room late for once?"
Her head lifted and turned to see it was now already three minutes before six o'clock. The same time the meeting had been arranged for. Her eyes widened as she quickly got up to her feet.
" .... Shit!"
A quick half-walk, half-jog later, the two would enter into the meeting room. Standing at the front was theircaptain, Trey Holland. Luckily, Suki wasnotthe very last person to hurry inside, which allowed her to escape an otherwise irritated glare from her boss.
On top of everyone's desks were files for the case.
"Inside of those, you should find images and data for all the missing girls. This should be a simple find and rescue mission. Donotuse violence unless you or any of the women are in any immediate danger. This is exactly why I'm waiting until 23:00 on the dot to start this up. Thereshouldbe fewer of the traffickers around. With that being said, however, do not hesitate to arrest these corrupt bastards. Theyneedto have justice served, and that can't happen unless they're in our custody. Is that clear?!"
A chorus of "Yes sir!"s rang through the air, including from Suki herself. The tell-tale reply that hinted they not only heard but understood exactly what this assignment would entail.
"Good. I expect nothing less from you all. Everyone will also see in their folders that I have designated each team to go to certain areas of New York. Most should have some of the captives there and able to be rescued. With any luck, no one will return empty-handed. But it'll depend if these men are smart enough to move the women around or not."
While he resumed speaking, Suki noticed her and Jonathan's destination; the docks. The New York Harbor, to be more precise.
Nodding to herself, she would join in with the rest of the cops as they gave another simultaneous shout to indicate they comprehended what tonight would be all about, as well as showing they were all eager and raring to go.
"Dismissed! I hope to hear back from everyone with positive results!"
1st September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: New York Harbor
22:11 PM EST
Suki and Jonathan had come up with a plan. A slightly unorthodox one, yes. But they hadn't been forbidden from doing this, so ... it wasn't like it was illegal. And hell, if it worked, then why not?
Jonathan was clad in his on-duty uniform. Suki, meanwhile, was in jeans and a tank top. Looking much more like a civilian than a member of the NYPD. But that was the goal. They had admitted and agreed with one another that whoever was behind this seemed to specifically target women between the ages of sixteen to thirty. With her possessing the traits of the typical victims, it'd be easy enough to lure any of the guilty men out.
Besides, it wasn't like Suki was completely alone.
She still had her gun with her. Hidden by her leather jacket draped over the tank top and simultaneously tucked in the right rear pocket of her jeans.
"See anything yet, Kimura?"
The voice came from her ear piece. Suki shook her head slowly, making sure she was alone first before answering back.
"Negative. But if there's as many women as we were told, there's likely going to be a huge van or set of crates or something. I'm not in the right spot yet, but trust me. I've definitely got my eyes open. I'm assuming you're following me somewhere nearby?"
"Correct. Careful, though ... I'm pretty sure we got this."
Suki playfully scoffed, nodding in agreement.
"Damn straight we do. I'll get in touch with you when I find something."
"Ten-four, Kimura."
And with that, Suki would let go of the ear piece and begin slowly, confidently walking down the harbor. Her eyes and every sense remained very much alert and aware, ready to react at a moment's notice of anything, be it a person, clue, or perhaps both.
gpt
Frank Castle
31st August 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Josie's Bar, Hells Kitchen
18:28 PM EST
Josie's was not one of Frank's normal hang outs. The place stank to high heaven being one of the few bars in New York that still let people smoke inside of it. The smell just kind of reeked up the place, and frank had to wonder if they paid an extra on their insurance so that they could keep it that way. walking to the sound of heavy boots, he Frank could feel the eyes on him from the fellow patrons of the estate. He felt some people sizing him even as he walked up to the bar. He watched as one guy probably the smartest guy in the entire place got up onto hiFrs feet, put cash on his table and walked the fuck out the door. Fank smiled at the man, watching him go, even offered him a little wave as he left.
Josie was an old woman, and a hard one, her voice had been wrecked by years of smoking and hair that had once been blond was now a more silvered white, she still wore jewlewery still wore make up, but she could no longer hide all of the wrinkles on her face that age had started to make, nor could she get rid of the smell of tabacco that was so clearly clinging to everything around the place, her teeth were yellow from it. "You're scaring my customers. Now how can I help you get the hell out of my Bar."
That got a chuckle out Frank. It wasn't every day someone actually started out with a strong face like that. He actually cracked a smile "A glass of water, and." Frank reached into the long trench coat he was wearing pulling out a photo. The photo was of a young man, it was black and white though probably taken off a security camera from somewhere, but it did clearly show the mans face. "Tell me where to find him? I know he's a regular here."
Josie looked at the picture and sighed. "Come on you can't do this in my bar, if you haul one of their asses into the street I'm not gonna have a business left." She said with a angry tone. "Why should I give you any of my boys?"
Frank paused on that for a moment, leaning back in his stool, and looking around the slowly emptying establishment. He lifted his arms and put them over top his head making himself comfortable. "You know despite the smell, I think I could see myself becoming a regular here. You know drop by once a day or so. Get a glass of water just hang out, you and I could be fast friends."
Josie let out a frustrated growl. Frank just smiled. "Tell me where, and I'm gone."
"He works the harbor, he said something was going to happen tomorrow night." Frank smiled when he heard that. "The harbor's a big place Josie, the new york docks have almost 68 peirs to them give me a number, give me your best guess of a number, and... lets just say that if it's in five... i won't be back."
There was a long silence, and Josie finally gave a dock number, frank stood up from his stool, put five dollars on the table, and walked away. "And Josie... you should really air out the place."
1st September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: New York Harbor.
22:11 PM EST
Frank had taken up a position on the roof, he was doing his equipment check at that point looking over his riffle, he knew he had hit the right pier thanks to some earlier investigation he had seen his dock worker earlier today, and was now sitting atop the building. Watching down at the street below. He could see a young woman. His best estimation put her probably mid 20s? she fit the picture for a lot of the missing girls that had been going on across new york, his investigation which had brought him to one of the players in the soon to be destroyed human trafficking trade.
He was pretty sure that the guy he was after was just a kidnapper. He wanted to catch the guy alive for interrogation. But as he was watching the girl he noticed something, he fixed the zoom on his lense for a moment as she walked, she was wearing an earpiece. He could see her lips moving through his lense she was talking to someone. She also walked oddly, her back was strait, she was confident her eyes were up and alert, victims of kidnappings tended to be more closed off, introverted, they tended to act shy and hold themselves awkwardly she had none of those signs. Despite being on the docks at night she wasn't wearing revealing clothing which meant she wasn't a lady of the night.
is she a cop?
Frank let out a groan if the cops were here tonight, and if they busted his target he was not going to get the information he needed. They would take down the people in the immediate area and then the small fry would likely be either killed off in prison before they could testify or they would be high enough up that they would get some rigged trial. Either way whoever was at the top would get away.
Frank let out a slow sigh steadying his heart beat. The use of a sniper riffle especially a high powered one like he was holding required a steady heart beat, and a calm hand. He had to fire between the beats of his heart when all was still.
And more importantly he needed to wait for his target to show up on the scene.
human
Suki Kimura
1st September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: New York Harbor
22:22 PM EST
Suki was walking briskly. Not quite in a panicked mode, per se. But there was a certain urgency that anyone would have been able to see. Or rather, that someonewasnoticing.
Granted, she couldn't pinpoint where from or who was watching her. But the sensation of being watched wasn't a foreign one. It had simply strengthened since she joined the NYPD. Suki had experienced her fair share of 'creeps' or 'stalkers' even back during her high school years. Now that the familiar feeling was registering to her, it only made her 'I told you so' mindset kick in.
God-fucking-damnit. Do these pricks have a sniper?!
But then ... wouldn't that mean theyknewcops would be coming here?
"No good," she muttered, finally pausing in her tracks and taking a moment to regain her composure. Her head tilted back as Suki slowly closed her eyes. In .... and out. In .... and out. The calming breaths continued until she felt well enough to re-open her eyes. Reaching down, she pulled her cell phone out. This doubled, even if it wasn't obvious. She did this for more than checking the time. She was also using it as a makeshift mirror of sorts.
Hmmm. No red light ...
Not that it meant anything, but it certainly made Suki feel better that if there was a sniper, she was either too far for them to reachorthey weren't immediately targeting her. Both of these were decent enough 'blessings' that she could better concentrate and focus on the task at hand.
Now ... if you were part of a trafficking group, where would you hide your victims away at, exactly?
It took a bit more of swiftly walking. But finally, a slight noise made her head turn as she walked to a largeshipping container. And, apparently, she'd arrived in time.
A quick glance at her phone indicated there were only two minutes before 23:00 would arrive.
"Please! Is someone out there?! Help us!"
"Shhh. Give me a bit."
"Oh thank god!"
While Suki started working on trying to unlock the large, metal box, a frown appeared on her face as Jonathan's voice echoed in her ears again.
"Kim -- !! Am --- !! Car -- "
"The fuck do you mean? Jonathan?!"
All she got was static, which caused a "Fuck!" to elicit from her lips.
"Hello there, sweetie," she heard from behind her. Before Suki could pivot around, the barrel of a gun pushing against the back of her head registered to her brain. "Nu-uh, none of that. You arrived just in time, actually. Here. Let us help you. You'll be a nice addition."
Suki's heart was pounding wildly. With what she'd just heard and at least five to eight shadows being seen with her peripheral vision, this was looking and feelingverybad. Her partner was gone, as far as she'd heard. Maybe - hopefully - not dead. But likely incapacitated. Which meant .... there was a good chance no one was around to help her. Suki slowly shook her head, irritated with herself. This was gonna be all - well, mostly - her fault. She never should have agreed to this in the first place.
Noted; never do anything that isn't by the book again. Shit ...
gpt
Frank Castle
1st September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: New York Harbor.
There was a problem. Frank wasn't completely sure what it was yet, but the cop was definitely a part of it. His target arrived, and he watched from a distance as three vans pulled up. Made sense if they were shipping a lot of cargo than they would need someway to carry the bodies. He sighed, watching the man he had been tracking get out of the car and motion to a few others. Going around the long way.
He watched as the cop started to mess around with the frieght container, he wished he could tell her to get the hell out of there. He watched as his target started to confront her, he had to guess that something was jamming the cell signal, or it could be just a bad signal. The harbors were massive, rotted grounds and ruins, they didn't always get good reception especially since water had the natural chaotic behavior of bouncing around radio signals to start with. He was hoping for a raid, instead she was starting to try and open the container. "No, come on, you're a cop where's your back up."
His scope traced down the line, back to his target now approaching her, he was drawing a weapon. He had to make a choice, risk her life and keep his target alive for interrogation or kill him and the others to protect the cop and the women they were transporting. The choice was easy. "One batch." He said stilling his heart, practiced breathing.
He kept the riffle trained on his target. Leveling it at the mans head. "Two batch." He watched as the man pulled out his gun and spoke with the cop, her time was running out. Something was off, and the raid wasn't coming.
He watched for a moment longer, could see the man about to remove the safety from his pistol, if he did that than it would be too risky to shoot him while the gun was leveled at the female cop's head. Frank knew the operation was busted. There would be another night to find out who was buying these women. "Penny and a dime."
~~~
The man's hand reached a little lower about to caress her ass and find the gun that she was hiding in her waistband behind her jacket, when suddenly there was a flash from atop one of the closest closed down buildings. The back of his head broke. The man slumped and a mix of brain matter and blood splashed over the female cop. There were two more flashes from the same location, though aimed at different places in rapid succession, and there was the sound of a body hitting the pavement, and another of something heavy falling into the water. Everything went silent as the man seemed to fall to the ground in slow motion.
~~~
Frank picked up his riffle getting up, from where he was laying. If nothing else he could search the cars, maybe find some hint of where they came from. Either way he had to clean up his scene. He picked up the three warm shell casing's and started to pack up his riffle into the bag he stowed it.
human
Suki Kimura
1st September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: New York Harbor
23:14 PM EST
"Bastard!" Suki hissed angrily. "That's mine!"
In mere seconds, however, the last of Suki's concerns became whether she would lose her gun or not. The sound of the trigger being pulled was very, very faint. However, it was quickly confirmed by a pained cry lasting about thirty seconds or so ringing in the cop's ears.
There is a sniper?!
Her eyes shut tightly as Suki half-expected herself to be the last person shot. Instead, when her eyes opened, she found she was the last person standing.
Suki slowly turned around, able to do little more than stare in shock and disbelief. She originally began to grab her gun ... but stopped. Now that one of the perpetrators had touched it, forensics would need to scan it for their fingerprints. It'd give them answers as to whom these bastards had been, as well as if they had been affiliated with any cartels or other dangerous groups.
"Hello?! Please, let us out!"
The screams helped Suki return to the here and now as she turned back around, gritting her teeth in annoyance. Mainly that she'd had to be saved in the first place. But there was also the fact that now ... she was gonna have a very, very long night ahead of her. Hopefully, the factsomegood had come out of this would make relaying to her captain the mission got interfered with less of a bitch fest for her to endure.
Less, of course, being the keyword.
"Second .... hang tight. I'm a cop, I need to make a call. But you'll be out soon enough, okay? You're fine. You won't be getting shipped anywhere. Promise."
"Thank you ... "
2nd September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: NYPD Headquarters
11:37 AM EST
Indeed, she had spent at least two hours last night trying to relay what had happened. Thankfully, her captain agreed it wouldn't do her any good to try to speak while doing so in a slightly flustered manner.
Knowing shecouldhave ended up getting shot - intentionally or not - had given her one hell of a scare. It was stupid, if not ironic. The risk of being shot was something that had come from many factors, from simply living in a dangerous city such as New York to serving in the Army for a few years to becoming a cop not long after finishing her first military tour.
But for some reason ... last night had really freaked her out.
Maybe because it was the closest anyone had gotten?
She wasn't sure. There were far too many questions, and not just simply about the mysterious sniper. Just as many revolved around the trafficking incident. And then ...
"You okay, Kimura?"
"No thanks to you," she bitterly shot back, lifting her head angrily to look up at Jonathan. "The fuck happened?!"
"Like I was trying to warn you. Ambush."
Her head tilted as she rose her eyebrows. At first, it didn't make sense. But then ... she thought back. Recalled how close it had been to eleven o'clock before the men found her.
" ... Okay. Fine, just .... "
Her hand rose as she ran a hand through her hair. Her head lowered as she glanced at the desk in front of her belonging to her own captain. It was the only person she was waiting for, and truthfully? Suki was actually kind of dreading this meeting a bit. "I wish you would have .... I mean .... "
"I get it. I'm disappointed in myself. I'm very sorry, Suki."
"As you should be," Trey concurred, finally walking in and sitting across from the duo. "Whose idiotic plan was this, anyway, huh?!"
"Mine, sir," Booker replied. "I pushed for Suki to agree to this."
"Even still, that doesn't fix the fact Miss Kimura is in the wrong. I thought you were smart enough. Certainly stubborn, if nothing else, to know when an idea was clearly a good one or not."
"Sorry," Suki replied, her voice filled with shame.
" .... So ... you didn't get a look at last night's sniper?"
"No, sir."
Holland sighed, shaking his head. "You two should know right here and now there's one major grace saving your asses. It's the fact you found and were able to keep those women from being shipped to who knows where. I've got a good chunk of them being visited, questioned, and protected by other officers already. So we'll find out soon enough the story involving their captors - or at least who they used to be. The moment I get enough information on the bullets that killed them, I'll let you both know. I want to know who else got themselves involved in our affairs as well as why."
Trey looked between the two, letting out yet another sigh.
"For right now ... dismissed. Thank you both for at least saving those women last night. But seriously ... no more fuck ups like last night, be it in your planning or something else."
"Of course," Booker replied, Suki nodding her head quickly in agreement.
"Thank you, captain," she replied.
Neither needed any encouragement to stand and take their leave.
"Want me to get you lunch to make up for last night?" Jonathan offered.
" .... Tempting. Very much so. But I think I'll take a rain check on that offer. I kinda wanna be alone for a bit, if you don't mind."
"Understandable. Alright. Take care, Suki."
It would be here that the two cops would part ways. Before she could heed her own words, there was one more stop Suki needed to make. She walked through the halls of the headquarters before walking through a door. There would be a plaque with the following words engraved in the square block.
WOMEN'S CHANGING ROOM
gpt
Frank Castle
2nd September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Upscale Manhattan apartment
09:31 AM EST
Six men sat around a well lit ornate table, on the table there was the latest morning edition of the daily bugle showing the bust that had taken down a small fraction of the organized human trafficking ring that these men had worked hard to set up. The product were all girls, between the ages of 15-17, that had been taken in at various points, some were runaways, others were taken during family vacations. All were about to be shipped off and sold and yet somehow the cops had caught wind of the operation. The details of the bust kept names out of it, only mentioning that three were dead, and that a local cop had aided in the rescue of the women who were now under police custody and could be potentially reunited with their families.
It was a happy ending.
It was an insult. One of the men pulled out a ipad, and started going through footage taken from various locations around the peer. "The cops said that there was a sniper on a roof, but the only one in the footage is the police girl. The location was chosen cause there were very few if any street cameras, so we don't have good angles, but we can hear three shots."
"So she killed our boys, and then blamed it on a ghost." another of the men sighed and took a bite out of the breakfast meals. They managed to get one good shot where her face was exposed to one of the street cameras. "What is she?"
"Probably fresh out of the academy by the look of how young she is. I doubt she has made detective yet. You want to approach her with an offer? see if we can put her on the payroll?" Another dirty cop could help re-emberse lost costs
"No, I want her removed."
"Pulling an officers badge is pretty hefty in the price. Even if she went off the books the city would regard her as a hero for saving the girls." Another man said. "Hero cop's don't loose their badges."
"Then remove her the old fashioned way, see if we can't get a name off the picture, or one of our good boys. Once we have that, put a hit on her. Nothing old school. We don't need to scream Maggia to the public." Everyone regarded the paper for a second, one of the first big bylines the now owner of the daily bugel ever broke was in taking down the Maggia crime family which played by a more authentic and older god father type code. Jameson had a target on his back since those days, but for some reason be it dumb luck or geniun skill the man had managed to evade every shot ever taken at him. "We don't need the garish details, Just put someone on it, and make sure that her body isn't found."
~~~
2nd September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: A cafe outside of NYPD headquarters.
11:40 AM EST
Frank sat eating a sandwhich his eyes focused across the street at the constant hustle and bustle of the NYPD headquarters. This was basically a cop diner hall, so he hadn't come as frank the punisher. His coat and his more assorted stuff was back at his apartment, he was wearing a grey work out hoodie with the NYPD logo on it, and track pants. He basically looked like every other off duty cop in the place. Just another asshole on the force eating his lunch protecting and serving. He had come here cause it was the natural lunch rush, but he couldn't find his Asian cop from the night before.
Some part of him wondered if she was on duty today. He was hoping that she would just walk into the place and order a sandwich so he could have a talk with her. There were two reasons he wanted to meet her, the first was that she had probably been working a case, which meant that her file was probably more up to date than his was on the work he was doing, but the second was a bad feeling.
Every time he got involved with something it was always some weird case that ended up going back to someone high up. The district attorney had ordered the bust that had killed his family, the leader of the CIA had been the goon he had punched in the face when he had tried to lead his strike force, and even his old boss in the military had turned for a paycheck at some point.
A good cop, one who took stupid risks and was at the lower end of the pay grade, that's hard to find in today's crazy world. Frank wanted to make sure that she stayed alive through this case, and who knew, maybe she could pass on some information to him as well.
human
Suki Kimura
2nd September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: (En route to a) Cafe Outside NYPD Headquarters
11:53 AM EST
Frank would get his wish it seemed. Suki would indeed walk in after a few moments. It hadn't taken her very long to get dressed; however, she had gotten talked to in the hallways of headquarters. And for a bit, she had been fine indulging her colleagues with answers to any questions they had, most of which were about last night. But finally, she put her foot down and insisted she wanted to get some lunch in.
Something they understood - and envied since she ended up getting the day off.
As such, she looked like she had last night. A typical civilian. The only evidence that would immediately give away she was a cop came in the form of her pistol and ID, the latter of which was in Suki's wallet. In fact, if it weren't for the fact the top was clearly a very different one, it'd be easy to think she'd worn the exact same outfit from last night.
Nah. That wasn't her style. She took damn care of herself. In fact, she intended on hitting the gym or jogging after lunch. If she wasn't on duty, she was always keeping active somehow.
"Heya Kyle!"
"Ahh, Suki! Was wondering if you'd forgotten me or something."
Her eyes rolled as she shook her head.
"You should know me well enough. That being said, I don't need to remind you what I'm gonna ask for, do I?"
"Nope. Gimme five minutes."
"Perfect. Thanks."
While the cashier and sandwich creator got busy, Suki pulled her wallet out and fished out the required amount of money. A five and a one.
"So have you talked to your boss yet about discounts? Isn't it kinda criminal to charge that much for one damn sandwich?"
"Come on, we've had this talk before. I don't make the rules. I just follow them. Besides, you're not the only one who needs a living."
Suki shrugged, unable to argue with that.
"Fine. Fair enough. Thanks. Crap, umm ... add in a bottle of water, will ya? I'm gonna need that when I leave." Suki pulled out another bill and some change, handing that over. She then reached out and took her food - and any spare change - before turning and sitting down. It was definitely not done on purpose, but she ended up choosing an empty booth that was located right behind Frank.
gpt
Frank Castle
Frank watched as the ladies of his thoughts walked into the cafe, he smiled for a moment. He thought for sure that he was going to have to wait here for a day or two before she would show up. Still he happy to see that she had shown up, now all he had to do was approach her. Frank got up from his seat and walked over to her table, it wasn't hard considering it was the booth right behind him. "This seat taken?" He asked as he slid into the seat across from her.
Frank took a bite out of his sandwhich for a moment. He wondered if she would just recognize him. At one point or another Frank was the most wanted man in New York, but that was about two years ago, and most people had long forgotten the punisher. At least when he was outside of the bullet proof vest anyway. The lack of a skull made it a lot easier for him to walk around, and with the hood up only Suki could see his face.
He looked at her assessing her reaction. His hands were on the table, he wasn't a threat to her. He decided that he was just gonna come out and say something. Introductions were never his strong suit, Frank was never one to call himself a people person. "So last night did you get all the credit? Or did they want to know who your back up was?"
Frank smiled towards her, and tried not to be combative for once. His guard was up though, he waited for her to call him out, or go for her gun. He was more aware in that moment of the danger he was in as he was surrounded by cops, he didn't like hurting cops, and he wasn't ready to publically announce the fact that he was alive to the world. "Way I see it you owe me one Mrs?" He asked her name.
"I gave up my best lead to save your rookie butt, so I want to know everything you do about this case."
human
Suki Kimura
"Nah, it's free. I'm not waiting for anyone."
And as he sat across from her, Suki took a moment to try to study him. If he was a cop, then she'd never seen him around before. Which, already, was a tad odd. But ... maybe he was just a civilian? Possibly, but that made it a tad weirder he'd wanna sit with her.
Whatever. He wasn't causing trouble, so Suki wasn't gonna make a fuss about it. Well, she wasn't intending to. Not before he brought up last night. It took her off-guard and made her bite her lip instead of her sandwich.
Several options definitely went immediately through her head. Get up and leave was one, though then she imagined he'd just follow her. Pull her gun out was another, but that would make much worse of a scene than storming out of here. Not every customer was a cop; just most of them. So it'd confuse anyone who was innocent and not involved in this.
" ... There's only one person who should be able to talk to me like that at all. You ... were the sniper, weren't you?"
Her voice lowered to a whisper as she spoke. Though her body stayed stable, her voice was shaking a bit.
"O-Oi, I'm no rookie, okay? Something happened to my back-up. At literally the worst possible timing. And then .... outnumbered. That shit never goes well for anyone. I think evenyouwould have had somewhat of a hard time hadyoubeen inmyshoes. You seem like you could be a competent fighter, if not cop. Definitely got the body of one."
Well, that slipped out. It wasn't meant to be an intimate comment, even if he was handsome. Just a keen observation. And hell, if his aim with a sniper rifle was that great, he could probably handle any kinda gun decently enough. Maybe even better than 'decently'. Probably, the more she looked at Frank.
Her feet tapped a few times on the floor as she tried to calm herself. Urges to hurl curses in his face and leave continued to taunt her. And they definitely got stronger as he seemed to imply he was blackmailing her.
Waiting to finish a new bite of her sandwich first, Suki's head shook.
"You may be right that yes, I owe you. But you seem to know well enough who I am and what I know. You should know I can't just give that sorta information out freely. I have protocols to follow. However, if you're dead set on that ... "
Her head shook again.
"Not here. Somewhere private. My place or yours, I care not. But preferably in a place no one else can eventryto eavesdrop on us. My place is clean. I make damn sure of that."
Clean, in this case, didn'tonlyrefer to the floors being void of messes or the surfaces, though that was true. It was her cryptic way of saying there were no bugs or devices where a person could listen or watch her go about her daily life.
But he seemed like he had a good head on his shoulders. He likely wouldn't need her to elaborate on that for him to understand.
"That fair enough of a deal? I'd say so, especially because I usually don't like a few things. Owing anyone anything, but worse than that? Breaking the rules involved with my job. And this definitely falls under that. But if I'm gonna make last night even, giving you what you want probably is the best choice to make. As far as credit? Not within the NYPD, no. And there's a reason for that. But I was definitely one of the few agents that got more credit than others. The public probably is buying whatever story's been printed. I haven't read any papers or whatnot yet. I'm not overly fond of social media in any form, to be completely honest. I only use it when I absolutely have to, but never before then."
gpt
Frank Castle
Frank was a little flattered when she said she had the body of the cop, he didn't miss the look she gave him. It had been a while since any one had flirted with him even subtly so it was kind of nice. That said he was more focused on the mission than her body. Maybe after the fact, but right now he would just let that comment go for now.
2nd September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: En route to Suki's home
12:13 AM EST
Frank listened to her explain at least part of what had happened back at the docks, but she then said the smartest thing she could have said. She was willing to give him the information but in a safe location. Frank got up from his seat. "By all means lead the way to your place." He said getting up and having her escort him out of the cop cafe.
He was more than happy to get out of the sight of NYPD. He moved along with her keeping his hood up the entire time that they walked together. Till they arrived at Suki's car and he got in. When he was in her car he pulled down the hood revealing more of his face to her. "The only reason I know who you are is cause I watched you through the scope of my riffle, I don't actually know your name. I just figured out you were a cop, and well eventually every cop eats there."
Hiding in plane sight and waiting for a target, he supposed it was a bit of a bold plan, but in areas where people felt the most safe that was usually the best place to find them. He smiled wondering if she recognized him this time now that she was in his car. He was going out on a bit of a limb here trying to work with a cop, there was a good chance that she might try to turn him in. When the car was in motion he started talking again.
"It's good that you don't use social media. It lowers the chances of you being recognized, and staying out of the spotlight means that less things will be pointed at you. I know a bit, but not a ton. I was following a trafficker who was kidnapping and moving those girls, the one that caught you was pretty much my best lead to figure out who the buyer was." Frank was keeping his head low as he looked out the window.
He let out a sigh. "I'll give you all the information I have once we get back to your place. Way i see it we may have to work together on this."
human
Suki Kimura
Suki would follow suit and get up to her feet after finishing her lunch. The trash would be thrown into the nearby bin. Her left hand, meanwhile, dove into her pockets and began fishing her keys out. "Unfortunately, the car's near the station, so we're gonna have to be there for a few minutes."
It just seemed like common sense to think that if this man had seemed to seek her out - and had done so twice, both timesawayfrom the headquarters - that he had a history. On the other hand, it could have just been a coincidence altogether. Either way, she didn't wanna give off the wrong impression and look as if she were going back on her word. There was as good a chance he had his own weapon.
Although .... she had been completely serious on him being a competent fighter. Which, thus, meant he probably didn'tneeda weapon in all honesty.
The sight of them would likely look laughable. Poor Suki had the typical curse that most Asians did and was relatively short, standing only five feet seven inches. A bit taller than most, but not nearly as much as she could have been. Last night at least hinted that what she lacked in the vertical department, however, was made up for in an array of various ways. Not just her chest, though that was also true. She really had gotten screwed over and, in her own ways, was also a competent fighter.
Well, the better wording was she had to be. It came with both her job and having originally served.
While walking, Frank would hear light jingling. With him officially having a closer view, he would see the familiar sight of metal hanging around her neck. Though they weren't in full view, the noise alone gave a good enough hint on what they were; dog tags.
A quick press down on her keychain and the lights flashed. A few beeps resounded, revealing the doors were now open so both could get inside. Frank would also see that Suki definitely broke another stereotype. She was actually a damn good driver even though she was Asiananda woman.
"So ... why were you even there last night? If you're another cop, I've never seen you before. But ... no. Actually, you can't be. You would've known the orders our captain gave us. Using a sniper rifle was definitely against them."
Hell, who evenusedthose? The more she thought on it ... yeah. It was becoming painfully obvious this man wasnota colleague she'd somehow missed.
It wouldn't become obvious until the first red light arrived. Her head turned ... and she felt something in between borderline scared and shocked. For better or worse? Even Suki wasn't yet sure about that.
" ... Frank? Frank Castle? Is that ... seriously who I'm looking at right now?"
The faintest of smirks appeared on her face as she shook her head, chuckling.
"You're still something of a legend among the NYPD. A very controversial one, too. Okay, so ... assuming I'm not seeing things, that explains your presence. Because ... they hit the wrong triggers with you more or less? Whoever those men were?"
Had her guest opted to take a more violent approach then, yes. Suki would have felt more obligated to report him. But he'd gone about this in a much smarter and far more diplomatic route than Suki had expected. After all, considering what she'd heard from her other co-workers - particularly those who had been with the NYPD for way longer than her - he was supposed to be incredibly dangerous and violent. Yet ... here he was. Not only being civil, but he hadn't even laid a single finger on her.
Clearly, there was more to the story involving him than anyone - especially Suki herself - knew and understood.
The drive was relatively short, lasting only about thirteen minutes, with about half of that being forced to obey traffic laws. Suki would pull up and park in her garage, though not before Frank would get a good view of herhouse.
"I'm umm .... not as wealthy as people assume. A lot of people forget the concept of renting to own exists. Thisshouldbe completely mine in ... hmm ... a few more years. Hopefully."
A nervous chuckle passed her lips as she stepped out, taking a breath. There was something incredibly nerve-wracking about voluntarily leading someone like Frank Castle in her own home. But when she kept managing to move freely and not be attacked, her anxieties shut up. She seemed convinced enough he wasn't about to give her any reason to call headquarters and report him.
Since they used the garage door instead of front, they would appear in the kitchen.
" ... Goddamnit! I forgot my water bottle at the cafe!"
Suki clicked her tongue, sighing in annoyance at herself.
"Well ... I was gonna offer this anyway, but um .... wanna drink? Look around and get comfortable. I'd ... very highly prefer if you removed your shoes somewhere and put them ... anywhere you won't forget them like how I did with my water. I still do follow a few customs from my home nation."
After hearing his reply, Suki would enter the living room, taking a seat on the couch. Her own shoes would already be off, as she'd slipped them off and left them in the kitchen for the time being. If he'd given an affirmative answer, she would hand him a water bottle. Otherwise, she set her own down atop a coaster.
"Okay, so ... where do you want me to begin? Aside from the beginning; I get that reply enough as it is from my colleagues. I'm fine with people being smart-asses, but creativity every now and again would be appreciated, ya know?"
gpt
Frank Castle
"The one and only." Frank couldn't help but be a bit coy and playful in the moment. Being recognized and told that he was still a legend among the NYPD, and among the criminal underground was always kind of gratifying. Even without the skull emblazoned across his chest he still carried himself with an imposing posture so he saw the glint of fear run across Suki's face though she handled it well, better than most of the cops he had met in the past though that was about two years ago when his rampage was still fresh through the city.
Frank nodded when they got to her home, it was nice, and on a cops salary it was probably towards the upper scale of what she could afford. Mentioning the rent to own plan he nodded. "Yeah that's what my family did a long time ago."
Just mentioning his family brought up a small tinge of pain. But at this point he had avenged them twice over, their spirits could rest in peace, and after all that he had done he knew he wasn't going to get to see them in whatever stage of life was after this one. So he had in his own way at least worked towards making peace with that part of his life, and now he was more focused on what he could do in the now, and that was fight his war. A war that would never end, meant that he could work till the end of his days, and while he didn't find any enjoyment in the work he was doing he knew it was the right thing for him.
Taking off his shoes as he was told he walked into her home wearing his socks. He pulled off the hoodie as they got into the warmer home, a tight T-shirt pulled across his chest, showing the broad muscles of his chest. As well as his muscled arms. He stretched for a moment going to his full height in the car ride, standing well over Suki he looked at least partly like he could break her, but his face was actually rather pleasant. "Thanks, water would be good."
Walking around her home she had a few pictures up, he could see important snips from her life like the graduation of the police academy, but her pictures didn't really showcase anyone else in them. "You live alone here? No boyfriend? or family that will walk in on this conversation?" He asked prying just a little into her personal life as he walked into the living room and took a seat.
When she asked him where she wanted her to start and told him not to say the beginning he smiled like she had just cut off the way he had wanted to go about this. "I'd like the connections they had." He pulled out the photo he had shown Josie to get the location of the pier. "His name or at least the name I got was Toni Esposito. I managed to figure out he was trafficking but not who he was trafficking for, he has to have someone, a business connection, a place he worked, or a friend who was giving him money."
"I find that guy I find the next one up the ladder from Toni, then after that I find the next guy, till eventually I've climbed the top and know exactly who is running this show." He looked at her. "The cops can't chase down businesses without probable cause, I can, So I just need to know where he worked, and who he was close with."
human
Suki Kimura
Well, I'll be damned ...
All things considered, New York had been relatively quiet. At least, as 'quiet' as one could say compared to when Frank had been active a few years ago, yes. In that regard, it was a true enough compare and contrast observation. By the time Suki had entered the NYPD, he'd ceased his constant killings, which made him a bit less infamous. But only in activity. His name, however, was uttered pretty quickly after she earned her spot on the force. Not just from bad memories either. At one point, they thought he'd returned due to someone trying to copy his tactics.
In the end, it turned out to be a really crappy copy-cat killer.
Back then, that had been the closest Suki ever expected to ever meet the real Frank Castle. Had anyone jested she'd see him in the flesh like she was now and then, she'd snicker at them and swear they were crazy.
And yet, here he is ....
"Family lives elsewhere. Some still in Japan, a few in other states. It's umm ... always been a rocky relationship between us all. And ... really? Do I look boyfriend material?"
Her own smirk returned as she chuckled softly.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered, but ... one of two things tends to happen. They freak upon learning I'm a cop which, even without doing background checks, implies they have something to hide. So they do the smart thing and break off any future relationship with me. Or ... they assume I'm some hardcore dominatrix or something because I have access to cuffs."
Suki rolled her eyes, shaking her head as the most recent time that tried to happen flashed through her mind.
"For real though, in this line of work? It's not really a smart move to get a lover."
Or, rather, you had to take a shit ton of precautions. And if he could see the mental list of qualities any potential guy would need to possess in order to have a decent chance at being a lover with her? Well ... he'd probably join her in laughing. It wasn't the longest checklist, but it wasn't short, either.
"So .... no. You don't have to worry about anyone barging in."
Suki would reach behind her and pull her pistol out from her rear pocket, placing it down on the mantle beside her. It was more of a sign that if any abrupt guests - particularly of the unwanted variety -didtry to force their way in, she would be ready. The last thing it intended to come off as was a threat in any form or fashion.
Her right hand would lift to bring her bottle up to her lips. While downing some of the water, she tucked a few raven strands behind her ears. Almost immediately, Suki's expression went to a more stoic one. Gone was the teasing and playful hints that had been in her face earlier. Now that they were doing business talks, she was as serious as she was when around her boss or partner.
Her head slowly nodded to acknowledge she recognized the picture.
"He was one of the few definite names and leads we had. And since this was part of your previous question, lemme backtrack a bit. I wasn't the only one getting credit for last night's operation because ... the trafficking happened in numerous areas of New York. It wasn't restricted to just the harbor. And between the spread out nature as well as other evidence on the guy, we do know one thing for sure. He's part of the Italian mafia. Unfortunately ... the rest of his comrades are a lot more discreet and smarter than him. Because prior to last night? We didn't see or learn about any other identities. Obviously, this'll now change courtesy of the bodies you aided in providing us."
A slight frown appeared on her face as she looked away from the pic of Toni and locked eyes with Frank.
"Whatever names may or may not come up are no longer my concern as of when I left headquarters .... what? Almost an hour ago, I think? But yeah. My captain wants me to identify you which ... I technicallyhavedone. Just not relayed."
If it hadn't yet been obvious, it was this part of the talk where a significant amount of problems now arose. Even with them trying to work together, outside forces were trying to make it impossible ... or really fucking close to that.
"So ... since my attention isn't supposed to be on the Italian mafia anymore, I think you can understand a few things. One of which being I can't just walk up to my captain and ask to be reassigned. Definitely not without a good reason. And even though there's a chance I may have somehow exposed myself to Toni's men .... "
Her head shook ... and then stopped after a few movements.
Wait a sec. Why am I not investigating both future leads and the 'mysterious sniper' case?
Suddenly, almost everything about last night was beginning to feel very off. Even being allowed to leave earlier than usual now felt ... wrong. Suki had originally figured it was to help cope with fearing she may have almost been shot, but ... now that she was exchanging information with Frank - and thus knew that wasn't the case - it just ... wasn't sitting well with her.
"I'm not gonna do that on purpose, and definitely not without a plan in mind. I already made the idiotic mistake of not following protocol last night. I'm not doing that again unless I figure a way to make it work out."
Although it wasn't painfully obvious, Suki was showing a few signs that two and two werenotadding up like they should. At least Frank would know he wasn't the only one who may be as suspicious as the woman across from him about how things were suddenly revealing themselves. Or failing to reveal, in some cases.
"You probably know this already, but secrets don't last for very long. Least of all within the NYPD. If I'm gonna keep helping you, we're gonna have to figure out ways to keepeverythingwe're saying and doing discreet. I'm sure I don't have to explain why or what may end up happening if this talk got found out by the wrong people. Not just to myself, but you also."
gpt
Frank Castle
Italian mob, well it was a place to start, Frank could at least admit that much. He had taken down sections of organized crime before in the past, but that was when he had first started out and his public war had taken a lot of prep time, and caused a lot of problems for him. He was pretty sure that doing all of that again would result in him getting caught again and put on trial again, and this time he wouldn't be able to call up Matt. Not that he particularly wanted to call up Dare-Devil for anything that man had basically ruined his own life at this point.
When she made a joke about her not being boyfriend-matariel he looked at her slightly surprised. When she went on to explain the two reactions that happened whenever someone found out that she was a cop he actually chuckled a bit. "Yeah it was a lot like that back when I was in the military." He did eventually find a woman who could put up with him, but that had been another life time ago. Still he could relate to the younger cops struggles, it was as shame because Suki was rather cute if a bit small. She kind of looked like she would fit in his lap.
and that is where I have to end that line of thinking.
It had been a few years since he had dated, or done anything romantic. As welcoming a change of pace as that would have been, finding the Italian mob was a higher priority at the moment. As the wheels started to turn that she had been put out to dry, frank rubbed his chin for a moment thinking over all the details that she was telling him. She had broken protocol once already by being on the docs, but for some reason she hadn't been removed from the case, but rather moved away from the italian mob part of it.
He took a drink of his water, as he thought about it. Putting his bottle down on a coaster as well. "Sounds to me like your boss is trying to shift your priorities away from the other sites." He said he hadn't known about the other sites, if that was the case than there were other traffickers he found one of them, and he would have a better lead as to who was calling the shots.
"Did any of the other operations land an arrest? and do you know where the other operations were?" She was right that the two of them didn't have a way to keep in contact he looked around for a moment.
He found a candle and picked it up, moving it to the window that faced the street. "You find something, you wanna talk light up that candle at night, and I'll find you."
It was just the way frank worked, he didn't like people having the ability to contact him easily. But he could set up a way to monitor her home and a window with relative ease. He looked around out at her neighborhood, she wasn't too far out in the burbs. With his car he could make a trip to her with good timing maybe an hour or two.
human
Suki Kimura
So he's a vet also, huh?
Not too amazing. In fact, a good chunk of the NYPD were also veterans, including her partner and boss. Whereas she'd served in Iraq, however, they had more diversity and experience than herself. Granted, that was to be expected; theywereboth older, also, by at least ten plus years.
"It's our curse as veterans, unfortunately," she mused softly to herself, flashing a small smile to Frank. Suki may not know Frank perfectly, but from what she had heard and now acquired from learning, it was easy to make a few likely accurate assumptions. He'd probably suffered a major loss. It was already pretty much etched in his face, truthfully. And in all honesty? Suki had endured that same experience also.
It just ... wasn't with a family member or intimate lover.
It had been a military partner, sister-in-arms, and friend. Therefore, it had been easier to get over the loss. War was war. Death came and hovered over every soldier, on both sides. It was just a risk that was inevitable, whether one wished for it or not.
" ... Yeah .... " she agreed in a rather disheartened voice. "It's ... odd. Holland's never made an out-of-place decision like this ever before. Nor is it like him. He's usually got really good judgement, but ... "
Suki's head slowly shook.
"It makes absolutely no sense. Even less so with me and my partner talking to him earlier and admitting last night wasn't my bad."
It was less about her being on the docks, per se, and more so the approach that was taken. But at this rate, giving those details out were rather redundant. Everyone from the opposing force was now dead and no longer a worry. At least, no in the 'reappearing' sense. Other ways, perhaps; but none that would make Suki further elaborate on her words.
"I do know for certain other teams got arrests, yes. Which though?"
Her smirk returned yet again.
"Not yet,butI do have an excuse to be able to ask for those and simultaneously get what you want. If I'm supposed to be looking for you, asking if they had any problems wouldn't be an unfair question, I don't think."
Of course, the answer was obvious. And if there were any troubles at all, it wouldn't be because of Frank, but something else.
"So umm ... "
Suki's head tilted, an eyebrow slightly raising as she watched Frank grab one of the nearby candles and nodded.
"Certainly an interesting way to contact you, but ... sure. Kinda smart, actually. Candles can't really be bugged like phones or anything so .... fair enough. I'll trust you'll be able to see from .... wherever you are. So ... before you go, I realize I haven't exactly introduced myself. Suki Kimura. Feel free to use one or the other. Most in the NYPD just use my surname, but a few do use my first. I'm not overly picky on what people use. Um ... "
Suki briefly followed his gaze outside before glancing up at Frank again.
"Do you need a ride back to your place? Or .... you gonna walk? Get a taxi, bus, something else?"
If he was about ready to leave soon, so be it. But she'd at least ensure he could return well instead of make an incorrect assumption which could lead to unfortunate circumstances.
Shame, too. All things considered, this was actually a pleasant talk ...
Odd, too. Suki had been fine being alone for most of her life. But suddenly ... she was kinda wishing Frank didn't have to go. Then again, it was for the best. She was already breaking a lot of rules just by having this chit-chat. If it got discovered?
No. Thatreallywouldn't be good for either herself or Frank.
gpt
Frank Castle
Something didn't smell right in the NYPD. Frank couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that there had been some sort of mistake going into the docks. When she confirmed that other areas had their own arrests and their own operations he wondered just how large a bust this had been. What were all those women even being used for? And why was it that only the docks had gone south. He was suddenly aware just how lucky Suki was that he had been following the perp he was and not somewhere else on a different site following another bust. If that had been the case than Suki would have likely never been seen again either sold into slavery like the other girls, or killed off when she refused to comply.
Considering the woman had dog tags, and spoke like a professional could meet his gaze and was made of more stern material than most he would assume that it would have been the latter of the two options.
the other odd realization was that Frank didn't actually want to leave, and he could see that Suki felt at least partly the same everything in her demeanor told him that she didn't actually want him to go. It was kind of comforting, she was offering him a lift because he had to assume that she for some reason or another wanted to spend a bit more time with him. "I actually left my van in my apartment building." He admitted. "I used the subway so I will be fine."
New York train systems were often the best way to move about the city. It avoided the often grid like traffic of Manhattan, and connected all five of the districts. He could read the subtext though, and as much as he wanted to stay he knew he had work he needed to do as well.
"I will be in touch." Frank said going back to the kitchen so he could retrieve his shoes keeping them in hand as he walked towards her front door. "I will keep in touch. If I need to find you I know where you live now."
For now, it was best that he go, and not let anything destract him from getting his job done, she had given him plenty of information when it came to whom he was fighting, the Italian mafia was a larger organization but at least it was a start he could approach it much the same way as he had with the irish, and the bikers.
"But Suki... Keep an eye out, you'll be a target now so I will be keeping a watch on you." He said before walking out the door, and into the late evening. He had taken his water bottle with him.
human
Suki Kimura
The exact same thoughts had gone through Suki's mind. Suffice to say, she was incredibly grateful, as well as fortunate. It would have been easy for Frank to turn a blind eye to her misfortune. His focus was on wrong doers, after all. But ... for whatever reason, he not only killed the guilty parties, but helped her in the process. Protocol insisted that had been the wrong thing to do.
But .... was it really?
Suddenly, she didn't know. She'd need to find and read up on Frank. Luckily, that was one of the many perks about being a cop. Sukidefinitelyhad access to those files. Add in her minor in Psychology and she felt confident a bit of reading would at least get rid ofsomeof the confusion currently swimming through her head.
Until then? Well, she just had to keep dealing with it.
"Alright. I'll ... I'll be in touch also."
Her smile widened slightly as she watched Frank stand and take his water. Suki would quickly nod her head as he gave his last warning. "Oh, no worries. I always consider myself as someone who's constantly targeted. Comes with the job ... "
"Another curse in my life. Lucky me, eh?"
"But the reminder's definitely appreciated. Talk to you later."
As the door closed, Suki pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and glanced down at it. And ... she rose an eyebrow. There was no way that could be right ... was it? A quick walk around and examining other sources that had the time - microwave, other clocks, and more - said otherwise. Regardless, it hadnotfelt like she just spent three hours speaking with Frank Castle.
15:18 PM, to be exact.
"Tempus fugit, indeed," she muttered, chuckling softly. Suki ran her hand through her hair and contemplated. Briefly .... but long enough to adjust. Her typical schedule got a bit compromised, though certainly not in the worst of ways. After deciding she didn't want to get back in her car, she made up for that verdict by getting changed into workout clothes and going to her at-home gym.
Fortunately, she'd created that exact room for days like today; the ones where she didn't want to drive or use her car, regardless of why. It always helped her out ... especially when winter rolled around.
4th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: NYPD Parking Garage
18:57 PM EST
Suki had known and realized this new partnership between herself and The Punisher would be difficult. It just hadn't dawned on her howtrulychallenging it would be until she tried to heed her own promise in asking for all of the teams that were sent out a few days ago, and whether any of them had any issues of their own.
Naturally, Holland refused at first.
But when Suki added in she was checking to help see about getting a lead regarding the 'mysterious sniper', he agreed. Not overly reluctantly, but enough that he stopped questioning why she wanted to know. It made sense to him, especially after she posed the question of if no one else had any unwanted visitors, then why was it only her and Jonathan who'd had to deal with a stranger intervening. The thought hadn't originally crossed his mind, apparently.
As Suki entered her own small office and found all of the requested information, an exhausted smile crossed her face.
Good. Finally, she could light that candle.
Hopefully he hadn't thought she was trying to break her part of the deal. Granted, two days wasn't very long compared to two weeks or even months. But for some, it could be deemed a long period of time.
Her head lowered as Suki glanced down at herself.
"Hmm ... later .... " she muttered, opting to get changed when she returned home. Having been at headquarters since six in the morning, it was an understatement to say Suki was tired. No, she wasexhausted. She wanted little more than to change out of her uniform and order some dinner. Pizza? Maybe. She'd think on it in the car.
It wasn't like she wouldn't work out to help make up for taking a cheat day. And hell, she was overdue for indulging in a cheat day.
The thoughts made her smile and helped her weary feet move slowly out of the headquarters and enter the parking garage. While using her right arm to keep the papers tucked firmly in place, Suki's left dove down and began reaching for her car keys.
gpt
Frank Castle
3rd of September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Manhattan lower est end.
22:32 PM EST
The Italian Mafia was a lot harder to track down the Irish had been. He wasn't sure why but every tactic he had used back then wasn't working here. It wasn't like he had a lot of leads. Back then he had known faces and names of people who had been tied to the mobs, the biker gang had been easy cause of those fucking jackets that they all wore like a badge of honor. The Italians? Well what was he supposed to do go to every single joe's pizzaria in new york and shoot up the place? There were like 30 and he liked authentic Joes, god damn he hoped that place wasn't a cover for anything cause that would honestly be a crime to destroy.
He had tried criminals, but finding people willing to talk about organized crime was hard. Most of them were gang banger's and while they provided good targets, he wasn't exactly making any headway when it came to the bigger enemy. He had no idea where he was supposed to begin when it came to the big men of crime.
Some part of Frank actually wondered if he could speak with fisk, the man who had gotten him out of jail earlier on. Fisk was a rotten to the core horrible criminal to be sure, but he was also a power player. One who had kept the balance of power strictly in his favor. The only problem was that Frank didn't negotiate with criminals. Didn't work with them, and if he was desperate enough to talk with Fisk than he knew Fisk would have him do something for him.
Which wasn't an option not till he became truly desperate.
So until he crossed that line he had to find a criminal that would talk, and so he had spent most of the time since he had left Suki's appartment digging for as much information as he could get on the people he needed to find, beating down a lot of the little guys whom Frank knew wouldn't run around talking about him. The best thing Frank had going for him was that whom ever he was tracking didn't know yet that he was coming for them.
Slowly and steadily, he would get there.
~~~
4th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: NYPD Parking Garage
18:57 PM EST
The parkade was always a little on the dark side. The lights and cameras down there rarely worked. But it didn't matter cause it was the NYPD garage. It was directly under the main branch building of the NYPD, so obviously nothing bad could happen here. Cops left here all the time due to the shift work, but as the headquarters usually had a skeleton crew to run things in the building at night it did get a little creepy here and there.
As Suki walked to her car and got out her keys she would hear the heavy foot falls of boots as someone quickly approached her from behind, until she would feel the hard smack of something wood connecting with her back the force knocking her into her own car over the hood.
Her assaliant was wearing a ski-mask, the kind that amature robbers used at a bank heist. He was holding a heavy wooden bat, which had just struck Suki across the lower back, and he went to grab her by the hair and lift her up. He was also in officer blue, making a statement that no Suki was not safe at work. The man's badge though was no where to be seen.
The man reached out and grabbed Suki's hair, lifting her while she was still in shock and throwing her face as hard against the hood of her car as he could.
human
Suki Kimura
The glass for the windows of any police vehicles tended to be tinted. Suki's, however, were not. She didn't need them to be. Bulletproof, at most. And it was an idea that shehadmeant to get working on sooner as opposed to later. Alas, the glass was just normal, not modified in any way. So, she was able toseethe ski mask, and thus, her attacker.
She just didn't want to believe what her eyes were showing her.
But ... I've been ... it's not like I've told anyone any fucking thing I'm doing!
Her mouth opened, trying to conjure some sort of a quip or warning. What finally ended up being heard was a pained cry as the bat slammed against the small of her back. The force behind the hit caused her legs to buckle before Suki finally sank to her knees.
Being physically prepared was one side of the coin for a cop to look at. Being mentally prepared, however, was another side and, more importantly, the one Suki hadn't properly gotten into the right mindset of. So even though she knew and saw the attack coming, being ready for the pain? Ehh ... not as much as she usually was ready.
"Son of a .... agh!"
Instincts, adrenaline, and her stubborn nature had helped her keep the files clutched in her arms. The reality of her situation sky rocketed as her skull slammed onto the hood. Her head lifted slowly, a low groan passing her lips. Any shock that had initially entered her was gone. Now, she was simply choosing her movements carefully.
And .... even though she didn't want to .... she let go of the manila folder. A ghost of a smirk appeared as it landed right where she aimed for; beside the upper left tire. Thankfully, the drop wasn't too high to make them scatter completely out, though a few bits and pieces of parchment were threatening to fly out.
That was fine. It just meant Suki needed to hurry up with this fight, something she'd fully intended on doing from the get-go.
With her having all but forced the man - she was assuming this was one until proven otherwise - to try to get the paperwork by letting her go, she took advantage of her own actions. Suki rose her right foot and slammed down hard on her attacker's nearest foot. Her right hand, meanwhile, rose and went to intertwine with the dirty cop's hand holding her hair. She pinched downhardbetween his thumb and forefinger; a common pressure point in the human body.
"Let go or I'm going to have to hurt you worse than I already am. I'm sure you know this can only go from bad to worse for you, yeah? So stop while you're ahead."
Deep in her mind, she knew this was one of those scenarios where negotiation shouldn't be put at the top of her to-do list. But hey, maybe this was a rookie. A complete newcomer into the NYPD. On the off-chance it was, it'd be simpler to get this to end, let alone before too much unnecessary violence occurred. If not?
Well .. that was why Suki was making proper preparations to rough this guy up more so. She wouldn't like it, no. But assuming this was part of the warning Frank had given her? It was a necessary evil. And she wasnotgoing to just allow anyone to do whatever they wished with her. Hell and no.
gpt
As she forced the man to let go of her head, he took a step back to gain some distance between the two of them as he still had the bat. Holding it back up he brought the bat down on Suki's side this time though he pushed her away from her car cutting her off from her chance to escape. The man didn't even seem to turn towards the papers she had tossed to the ground the man was unfortunately or fortunately depending on how she viewed the situation entirely focused on Suki.
He seemed to chuckle at the idea that she would hurt him. He moved in to grab her, this time pulling her by the shirt, the important thing was that he did not want to give her the chance to draw her gun, so he very quickly grabbed her ripping her uniform in the process buttons ripping off her shirt as he pulled from two sides, his fingers sinking through the cloth to more expose her bra. Even so the assault was not sexual in nature, he just lifted her up.
He picked her up with an ease that showcased just how strong he was, though to do so he had to let go of the bat. Before throwing her down to the ground as hard as he could. Her head landing just in front of the front wheel of her own car. "You don't get it."
The voice that spoke was familiar definitely a co-worker she had spoken with before, but then cops all worked together, and it was a generic voice. With the gloves and the mask the most she would be able to tell was that he was white under his uniform, and taller than her. It hit home just how much larger he was than her. But aside from that he could have been half the cops on the force with his brown eyes. The only thing remarkable was the fact that he was most certainly a cop.
"A word from the boss, they don't want you touching this case anymore. You have one chance, get the fuck out of our city."
human
Suki Kimura
It was certainly both for Suki. Fortunate he seemed to only be concentrating her and, on the other hand, not so lucky. But it was a blessing, even if a slightly warped one. Considering sheneededto get away with these in tact, it was at least good to know everything she'd promised to give Frank wouldn't be targeted. So now ... she had to getherselfout of this mess.
Come on, think, think ....
"H-Hey! Leave those alone!"
Suki shot a furious glare, trying to shove her opponent away. Maybe even into one of the other cars still parked in the lot. Instead, she got hoisted up. Another good thing seemed to come from this gesture, and that was a closer look. Even with the limited clues, brown eyes and seeing it was a Caucasian actuallydidhelp ... as did hearing him finally speak. She'd definitely be able to identify him and at least work on narrowing down who the fuck this was.
Worry about identity later! Save yourself first!
Unfortunately, some part of her seemed to be flustered enough that it was easy to see Suki wasnotat her best. The twelve hour long shift wasn't doing anything to help.
As if you didn't have enough frustrating shit to deal with ...
Another whimper left as she was hurled down. Her arms shakily moved, managing to keep her head mostly safe. But ... it'd cost her. Nothing major. She could feel that much. But her left wrist was definitely sprained, at the absolute worst, from being thrown at such a height and with the amount of force used against her. Her head weakly turned as she watched her keys slip out of her fingers.
There was an idea her brain wastryingto conjure. A reason she was staring at them. Suki just couldn't immediately pinpoint it.
"Yourcity?" Suki repeated, turning to stare up at her assailant, chuckling softly. "Cities don't work the same way assigned seats do. And even if they did? I sure as hell don't see your name on any part of New York."
Her head shook from side to side.
"With the way you are now, I definitely don't answer to corrupt bastards like you."
NowSuki would try to do exactly what the man had been worried about. Her right hand dove down and started going for her gun. Her right leg, meanwhile, rose and tried to place a kick against the masked assaulter's kneecap. Even if it didn't hurt for long, it was meant to give her enough time to finish doing what she wanted - and, at this rate -neededto go through with. Getting her weapon drawn out.
gpt
Her kick landed, against the man's shin, and he grunted, but he didn't take much more damage than that, he was already aware of her arm going for her gun, and he had brought up his leg to stomp on her out reaching hand which is why her kick had been deflected. Heavy boots grinded against Suki's arm, crushing her fingers, but doing no more than stepping on her. stopping her from grabbing her weapon. The other cop just chuckled, he had brought his, and could easily draw it, but he had been told only to send a message.
He leaned down his weight still on her hand preventing her from getting her fire arm, as his body loomed over her. He sat on her now exposed chest thanks to her shirt having been ripped open. The Man's gloved hand stroked Suki's face in a calm, almost affectionate kind of way showcasing just how dangerious this situation was for her. Brushing down her cheek till suddenly the man was grabbing her neck.
He held her neck tightly as he sat on her chest, holding her and squeezing down on her. The foot came off her hand leaving her free to panic and squirm as he started to choke her violently with two very strong hands. Hearing her gasp for air, he smiled. "You know it's actually very difficult to kill someone with choking?"
"Don't worry, once you pass out, I'll just have my way with you, and then toss your ass in the back seat of your car." He threatened still holding her tightly. Her hands were free to struggle against him, her car key's in reach.
human
Suki Kimura
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Her arm trembled under the pressure, shuddering violently as the boot kept her from getting her gun. Suki tried moving her left hand. But between feeling new surges of pain from the sprain and simply failing to reach her gun, she knew the man had her beat. By now, the Asian cop was barely avoiding hyperventilating. If she hadn't been scared enough, all of her fears - and pulse - only got stronger as a gloved hand landed on her face.
Suki whimpered, flinching at the touch as she looked away.
"I said no! I don't want this!"
Goddamnit, not now!
Flashbacks she'd felt confident were locked away forever reemerged, taunting Suki. PTSD and even more adrenaline started kicking in the smaller cop squirmed and struggled under her assailant's weight.
"Get off of me!"
The same words she'd uttered years ago were spoken again, out loud. Not caring if he'd ignore the words. She wouldn't accept this. Not again ... definitely not again. In truth, it had been another reason she hadn't been in a relationship for a while now. It just ... wasn't something she could immediately confess to Frank.
And as her mind went back to him ... regrets quickly filled Suki.
Even if it would have been rash, maybe sheshouldhave acted on whatever feelings had been going through her a few days ago. Maybe? It hadn't seemed like she was the only one looking hesitate to leave. Or ... was she just imagining things? She didn't think so; Suki was typically good at reading people. She was rather positive Frank had looked hesitant to leave her place.
But, admittedly, she knew that also could just have been wishful thinking on her behalf. Either way, it was enough for her to lament not speaking or doing anything a few nights ago.
Don't be fucking stupid, that's --
Before the thoughts could finish, however, her eyes widened as oxygen was abruptly cut off. Suki's eyes widened as she stared down, finding the figure's hand wrapped firmly around her throat.
NOOOOOOOO! SHIT, FUCK! NOW WHAT?!
Frantic coughs and gasps were all her attacker would hear, though they did seem to occasionally mingle in with frustrated growls and fearful whimpers.
SUKI, COME THE FUCK ON! FOCUS!
Slipping her fingers in between the man's hand worked ... at least to an extent. It definitely ensuredsomeoxygen kept going, but it didn't do anything when it came to getting him off of her body.
I CAN'T, I CAN'T .... SHIT! WORST! FUCKING! TIME! FOR A PANIC ATTACK!
Another angered - if not slightly weakened - "URGH!" would be heard before her head turned away. What started as a look of defeat rapidly turned to a hopeful expression. It was stupid ... maybe even a bit of an amateur idea.
But it was the only plan coming to her mind that made any sense at all.
Forcing her left hand to move once again, she wrapped her slim fingers around the keychain. And then .... the car began to wail as she pressed down, activating the alarm herself.
Her ears ... holy fuck they were ringing and hurting, as well as her head and arms.
But to make up for the shitty cameras down here, this wouldhaveto be the next best thing. That was all Suki could hope for; that he would finally take his own turn to panic and run. Preferably without still holding onto her, too.
gpt
"Fuck!" The man recoiled as the car alarm started to go off, his ears ringing from how close the two of them were to the car. He stumbled back off of Suki letting her breath, getting to his feet as he forgot his baseball bat clearly in a panic cause any second now someone else was going to show up to figure out what the hell the racket was about. When it was just him and her down here that was one thing, but he couldn't risk another good cop showing up and so any previous threat against her seemed null and void.
Still before she got up he gave her one last sharp kick to the side, before he ran off. His heavy boot impacting against her abdominal area as he knocked her around. He then ran off away from the car park and left her there bleeding and battered as she was. His point had been made, but this time she had been cleaver enough to avoid any further damage. In his haste he left the baseball bat and the file on the ground near her body.
human
Suki Kimura
Suki smirked, feelingverysatisfied with herself. Relief swept through her as she succeeded in exactly what she'd hoped for; coercing her assailant to let go, giving herself the ability to freely breathe back in the process. Also, while Suki wasn't a sadist, the guy's reaction was absolutelypriceless. Certainly worth getting the extra kick in her midsection ... if that had been why he bothered with it.
Either way, Suki would stay on the concrete for a few minutes, very, very slowly moving when she was finally ready to try moving. Her limbs were shaking, particularly her arms, as she forced herself to stand up. The alarm would first be deactivated, followed by the driver's side door being pulled open. She'd barely finish putting the files inside before a hand fell upon her shoulder.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
"Whoa, whoa, Kimura .... it's just me."
A quick whip of her head would reveal Jonathan behind her, whose mouth was now agape as he saw his partner bleeding and battered.
"Fuck .... you .... want me to call an ambulance? Who did this?"
Suki quickly shook her head no.
"N-no ... no ambulance. I dunno. I ... I'm gonna go home."
"Home?! Are you insane?!"
"Not really. Maybe a bit desperate, but .... "
Looking from side to side hastily, she then stared back into Jonathan's eyes. "I'll fill you in with the whole story later, okay? Right now, I need to leave. If anything, maybe they'll assume I went to the ER. By the time they realize I'm not there .... "
Her head kept moving from side to side.
"They won't be able to do anything, least of all not without drawing unwanted attention to themselves. But ... hey. You wanna help? Get that bat to forensics ASAP. They had gloves on, but maybe there was a time they touched it with bare hands?" As Jonathan looked ready to point out the slight contradiction in her own explanation, her voice became more impatient. "It's worth fucking checking, okay?! Please ... just .... "
'You're right, I'm sorry. Okay. You sure you don't want anymore help?"
"I'm sure. It's ... really not as bad as it looks."
"Definitely not physically, anyway ..."
The moment Jonathan got out of the way, Suki pulled out from her spot and drove home. Actuallyspeeding, for once; something she usually was able to avoid while driving in her own vehicle and not a cop one.
4th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Suki's House
19:39 PM EST
By the time Suki arrived home, she wasstillexhausted. Her movements were incredibly forced, and it showed. After shutting and locking the garage as well as the kitchen leading to it, she hurried to the same candle. Thankfully, despite being desperate to get out of the parking lot, she hadn't been stupid enough to forget the files.
Those had been set down on the dining room table.
With her symbol lit, she ran off. Even if Frank took his own car over, it'd still take time. And that was fine. She needed some ... enough to look much more ... presentable. And also get some of her nerves back. The latter would likely be much easier said than done though. Suki wasveryshaken up by what almost just happened.
Why?! How?! Did I do something that blatantly obvious?!
Not likely ... hopefully. It probably was just the unfortunate fact that she was working against a goddamn mafia. And there was a high chance they were professionals who knew exactly what they were doing.
But then .... why had one of her own teammates gone against her? Were there other dirty cops in the NYPD?
The thought made her shake as she stripped and began trying to change into some civilian clothes. It was a bit of a chore with one wrist in a relatively bad condition and the other hand sore in its own rights. But she was trying to make her body cooperate. She didn't want Frank seeing her in an outfit which all but implied she barely escaped being raped. It had been embarrassing enough he'd watched her almost get sold to who knew where. If he saw hints that she not only failed to fight one of her own comrades off, but nearly got raped in the process?
Her pride couldn't handle that.
She really wasn't physically weak nor an incompetent fighter. The past few days just had not gone her way. And from the feeling she was noting in her pained gut? It wouldn't go her way anytime soon.
gpt
Frank Castle
4th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Suki's House
23:09 PM EST
Since his introduction to Suki and telling her to light the candle on her window Frank had made her house a part of his nightly drive through the city. He hit up a number of places that had known connections to the Irish, scanning for trouble and tracking various routes. He found these drives to be a relaxing way to pass the night, he didn't always see anything, but it was a good way to get a map of the city out from his head and explore the road. Whatever the traffickers had done they had clearly done well to clear out their tracks. He sighed as he leaned back in his van.
When he turned his head towards Suki's window though he saw the faint glow of a candle, and sighed. His partner had found something, which was good because he had been getting driven up the wall with his lack of any solid findings on the street. He had a few names, but nothing concrete. He casually circled around the block, driving his van a few blocks past her home, so that he could get out and walk back. If anyone was monitoring her home he didn't want to give away the make and model of what he was driving.
Frank was wearing a joggers outfit. Shorts, and a hoodie, and he made sure to make it look like he was just a jogger walking through the residential neighborhood. Acting like he belonged here. When he got to Suki's place he quickly knocked on the door three times, and stepped back so that she could get a clear view of who it was through the peep hole of the door.
When Suki opened the door he looked her over seeing the bruising and the head wound she had sustained. He took one look at her, and nodded. "I have a first aid kit in my van." He said softly before leaving and retrieving the box coming back a few minutes later with the box. Once he took off his shoes and walked inside he let her guide her to wherever she was comfortable and opened up the first aid kit.
Frank's first aid kit was used to patch himself up mostly, it had just about everything for any situation, soeing needles for stitching, and a lighter for cleansing the needle before use. He had bandages ice packs, one of which he immediately passed to Suki for the bruising along her throat where she had been strangled. "What happened?" He asked as he started too look her over, and treat all of the injuries she had.
human
Suki Kimura
5th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Suki's House
12:01 AM EST
Even though anyone could have argued the true purpose of hercivilian outfit, it really was best. The lack of sleeves ensured she wouldn't move her wrist against the fabric and further irritate her sprain. The midriff would help explain what had happened. Normally, Suki could come up with the right words to use. But tonight?
She had no idea if that would be doable.
At the end of the night, she was calling Frank over because ... well .... they had agreed on this arrangement. It would do her no good to start going back on her word.
After walking out, she stayed beside the candle .... and finally blew the damn thing out after two hours had passed. From what she could tell, he either hadn't seen it, he was in his own crazy mess, or something else arose.
A frustrated groan would pass her lips as she fell asleep a bit after the 21:00 hour rolled around.
And very quickly sat up as the three knocks caught her ears. Even though the sounds had been softer than usual, poor Suki was so on edge, it was easy to think she may be full-fledged paranoid. Not completely ... not yet. But she was definitely much more alert than any person should be. Particularly at such an ungodly hour, barely after midnight according to the clock she snuck a peek at while moving to the front door.
A sigh of relief passed as she found Frank outside and unlocked the door.
If the bruises didn't scream that something wrong had happened, her left arm looking rather limp beside her would probably be another giveaway. Bruises had formed all over her upper body. Naturally, it was worse on her left wrist, but even her right hand had taken a beating. Though she'd kept her forehead from being busted open, it had its own out-of-place bruise, as did her abdomen.
"You umm ... you haven't been waiting long, have you?"
Suki weakly nodded her head, glad to hear he had his own kit.
"Thanks. That um ... that's appreciated."
She stayed near the front door, locking it after Castle walked inside and guided him back to the living room. Along the way, she grabbed the file, setting it down atop the table in front of the couch.
"All of the teams as well as who got arrested and even the women who got saved are in there."
And then .... the inevitable question in the form of what happened to Suki arrived. Her head bowed as she weakly chuckled.
"I'd love to say this has just been a shitty week, but .... " Her head shook. "It's worse than that."
Suki's body visibly tensed as Frank reached out to touch her. She even held her right index finger up ... lowering it only when she felt fine for him to proceed and help her out.
"Well ... I guess this would be the 'sending a message' phase of the Italians plan. Which ... wouldn't have been half as painful. Except ... "
It was here that her voice betrayed her emotions and began to quake.
"I don't know whom yet, but someone from the force gave me the warning. So ... "
Her eyes closed as Suki forced her right hand to keep the ice pack held firmly but carefully against her throat.
"I guess ... even work isn't safe anymore. But I can't just .... fuck. Quitting would give them exactly what they wanted. Yet, with this new knowledge ... is there even a point to telling Holland or anyone?"
Tears stung her eyes; not falling, but definitely forming.
"I don't know," Suki weakly answered. "Even in fucking Iraq, I never felt this terrified. Right now? I'm legitimately scared. Only one other person knows - my partner. But I insisted I just needed to get away and would fill them in later on what all happened. I don't know about doing that though. I feel so lost."
gpt
Frank Castle
The big thing that frank had to work on fixing was her wrist creating a splint and wrapping it so that Suki's sprain didn't end up getting worse over time. He worked with her though understanding that a victim needed to set their own pace at least when the injuries were non life threatening. He listened to her, and could tell that she was deeply shaken by what had happened to her, and when she told him that she had been attacked by another officer he sighed. Of course the mafia would have boys in blue working for them.
He groaned for a moment frustrated he hadn't seen that coming. First it was the CIA now even the cops were crooked. What the fuck was it about people in power that immediately made them want to abuse it.
"Do you have any holliday time saved up?" Frank said, knowing that taking a break and calling it in over the phone would be easier than going in the next day for her.
The thing that burned him was that she was supposed to have the safer job of the two of them and this had happened to her at her own job. If that wasn't safe they could at least assume that the mafia now knew who Suki was. Once her hand was set and she was icing the other wounds frank leaned back in his seat. Thinking things over for a long moment.
"Lets go, pack up what you need to survive, and I'll take you back to my place. They know where you are living, and staying here is just going to make you feel unsafe. No one knows who I am in all of this, so they have no reason to look into me or who I am." He looked around. "We will leave the lights on, make it look like someone is still living here. I can come by tomorrow set up a camera to see if anyone breaks in here."
He could also rig her house to explode, but she had said that she had wanted to own this place in a few years, and so that may have been over kill.
"I'm sorry." he looked at Suki, genuinly sorry that this had happened to her. "I thought that you would be less of a target that they would have seen it as you doing your job. But something about this isn't right."
"We will work together to figure that out."
human
Suki Kimura
Suki quickly nodded when Frank asked his first inquiry.
"A shit ton of it. That's the easy part. It's .... do I go to a hotel come morning? I ... didn't really have a back-up plan. Stupid, I know. Probably should have come up with one sooner."
"But really, who expects something like this to actually happen to them?"
Hell, what were the odds? Not quite one in a million, but rare for sure. This literally could have been anyone else in her shoes. Yet, somehow, it had been specifically Suki that got targeted for this crap. And not just tonight, but the mishap at the docks.
It made her right hand turn into a fist, clenching tightly onto the ice pack, anger mingling in with the already lingering shame Suki had been feeling.
"W-Wait, what?!"
The offer definitely helped snap Suki out of her 'woe is me' mindset as she stared in disbelief. "I-I mean .... I'm grateful for that. Really, I am. But .... the second I start going back .... what happens if they see me leave your place? Then youwillget more involved, and .... "
Suki took her turn to elicit a frustrated, defeated sigh as her back fell against the couch. She stared up at the ceiling ... and lowered her chin so it held the ice pack in her stead. With her right hand free, she clasped onto her dog tags, keeping them held tightly whilst simultaneously inhaling and exhaling to calm herself. Odd that symbols such as dog tags - items obtained from war - aided in calming her the best. But it was why they were one of the few things Suki consistently wore every day.
"I guess you're right," Suki gently replied, "Your place probably is the best. I .... thank you."
Light blue eyes slowly came back into view as she looked back over to Frank.
"I really wasn't trying to sound ungrateful. I just ... feel like I should be able to deal with this crap. I somehow got into it. I should be able to get outta it, but .... tonight's proven even if I can, that isn't really gonna happen for a long while."
As Suki stood up, her back popped a few times, making her wince. " ... There's probably a few bruises there, huh? Fucker used a bat. I ... shouldn't be too long."
The only reason it even took a bit over ten - thirteen to be exact - was because Suki packed a few weeks' worth of clothing. He hadn't specified how long this new living arrangement would be, so she decided it'd be better to assume the right answer would be more than a week. The only other things in her dufflebag were her cell phone, car keys, and certain feminine items. Everything else - shampoo and conditioner - she could likely borrow at Frank's place.
"You mind getting the files? I'm trying to keep some pressure off my left side."
Once Frank was ready and had his own things - namely the kit - Suki would walk outside with him. Only after they both exited via the front door would Suki re-lock it once again.
Just like she wouldn't allow anyone to easily get to her car and steal it, the same applied to anyone breaking in her place.
Suki would wait for the headlights to flash and beeps to resound from the van, signaling it was unlocked. When the tell-tale cues arrived, Suki would put her bag in the back, then proceed to get in the passenger's seat. While buckling herself in, she stared out the window ... gazing at her house. What she'd wanted to be that, anyway.
In the span of two - four, technically - days, so much had changed. It honestly was a bit heart breaking shehadto feel like she was doing something as cowardly as hiding.
But with how things were going?
Suki had no other choice; none that appealed to her, anyway.
gpt
Frank Castle
"Everyone needs help." Frank said nodding, it wasn't about her not being able to deal with the crap hand they had been dealt, it was that the people they were up against were stronger than either one of them combined. He never had a partner before not for his whole Punisher thing, he only had one bullet proof vest but he had enough guns for two people. Would she even want to go down that road? It was a rather dark one, and not one he recommended to anyone. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself.
Frank put the files in the glove compartment of his solid black van. The back of which had the seats taken out of it. Allowing for more space. There was a metal grid with a gate separating the driving area from the back of the van with enough room for their stuff, the back of the van though was mostly empty, carpeted, with an area to keep someone locked up hand cuffed to rails that had been installed on the side. There were some stains on the carpet of the van, dark brown stains.
If she hadn't known what frank did, she could have assumed that this was some sort of torture mobile, because she knew what frank did she would know this was some sort of torture mobile.
Driving along the roads he was more than fine taking Suki back to his place. "I can help you, I was special forces, when your wrist heals, I could help teach you a few things." Frank offered.
Driving into the parking lot of his apartment building. He got out of the van and helped Suki down from her seat. His building was a pretty shitty place all things considered. He wondered for a moment if he should have gotten them both a motel, as he was welcoming her into a ramshackle home, one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom. The lighting all worked, but it was small cramped, and the building probably had a bug problem. Not the camera kind, no there were actual bugs.
"Sorry Maybe I should have gotten us both a hotel." He said locking the door behind them as they entered, he had two different chains on his door, the apartment was cramped, but livable. "You want a drink?"
He supposed that could have sounded like he was offering alcohol but as he opened his fridge he pulled out a jug of apple juice. "I have some cold pizza here if you want it." He looked around. "I don't normally have guests, so for tonight you can take the bed, and I will sleep on the sofa."
human
Suki Kimura
There were definitely a few moments where Suki quickly had second thoughts. The mere appearance of the van could have easily made anyone - cop or not - fear the interior of Frank's van would be the last thing they may ever see. And ... the concerns were very much valid. The main thing keeping her from freaking out were the past face-to-face talks they'd had. If he really wanted his actions to match the implications this vehicle had?
Well ... he'd passed up alotof chances.
And if Suki was being completely honest with herself?
It wasn't a fluke. He hadn't acted violently against her because she was more with him than against him. She didn't fit under the types of people he typically killed.
"That ... would be appreciated."
Though her eyes remained locked onto her house until it disappeared from view, a small smile could be seen even as Frank began to drive away.
That too,she reassured herself, nodding slowly to help keep herself calm. And it was true. If he wanted to kill her, one of theverylast things he'd do is offer to help her out.
"You know? I would have thought remaining in the Army would have been more challenging. Especially on the mind, if not that plus one's body. But now ... with all that just happened? It almost feels like the opposite is starting to seem like the truth. Loyalty .... "
Her head slowly shook.
"It's ... one of those things that just should be a given, particularly in the certain places. One's the military, one's law enforcement. Yet, I've gotten a hint that I may not be able to trust all my co-workers. And that's .... "
Suki paused briefly, trying to find a good way to finish the sentence. But when she failed to find a more civil reply, she just used the brutally sincere option instead.
"Just fucked up. To a degree I can't explain, comprehend, and barely believe."
Even more so when, before tonight, Suki had never had issues following all of the rules and protocol. But now? Did they even mean anything anymore? For the first time in her life - let alone hercareer- she had no idea. For the rest of the drive, Suki tried to figure out the answer to her own rhetorical musing. Unfortunately, it was an easier said than done task. There was a good chance she wouldn't be able to conjure a definite answer for a week, or really close to it.
"Thanks," she muttered, accepting Frank's hand as the van came to a halt and she slid out after unbuckling herself. Just like before, she'd grab her dufflebag and walk inside.
At first, she understood what Frank had meant about questioning if this had been a good idea or not. But then ... a different quip came to her head, one that caused her to shake her head whilst wearing a smirk.
"Nah. You made the right move. You clearly need a woman's touch with this place. Not as badly as other guys I've seen, mind you, but enough. Either way, since I'm probably gonna be stuck doing really mundane tasks, may as well make the best of my vacation."
There was no logical way Holland could refuse. Not when she called and filled him in on the details, anyway. And if he tried to? Well .. that would confirm at least one thing; her assailant from the parking garage wasn't the only dirty cop. Mind you, even now, she was already assuming that. But right at that moment, there was at least a chance Suki could be proven wrong.
Certain actions and responses would help prove her fear was indeed correct.
"And it seems fair enough. If I'm gonna stay here, I may as well help out somehow."
Allowing the bag to slide off her shoulder and be placed near the front door, Suki followed Frank into the kitchen. "Pizza's great. I can warm it up real fast." Her right hand quickly wove dismissively through the air. "I'm not overly used to guests myself. A drink would be great. If that bastard hadn't killed me, the shift would have. Twelve hours, ugh."
Even though she definitely didn't expect to see apple juice of all things, Suki didn't react negatively. If anything, she had to stifle a giggle.
"Sorry, sorry. It's by no means the worst thing I've seen. But it's ... an interesting choice to say the least. Given your history and personality, I wouldn't have thought you to enjoy juice at all. I'm famished and not really picky. Definitely not when I haven't had anything to eat in hours."
gpt
Frank Castle
Frank grabbed some cups, and started to to turn on the oven so that he could reheat the food they would be eating. Pouring the apple juice he saw Suki chuckle. "Sorry I haven't had any alcohol in a long time. I found pretty early on during my one man war, that things like alcohol and pain killers dull the senses they let you make mistakes." He looked at the mug now full of cold juice passing it to Suki. "Plus this stuff is generally cheaper."
He didn't want to say that it reminded him of a time when he was a simple family man. It messed with his perception of himself, as he did miss his old family, but he also didn't keep many traces of them from the old home. Only real thing he had left was a single picture of the three of them, one he kept on his person at all times.
"Military life was easy for me. I never had a problem with pulling the trigger but coming back all I wanted was a boring life. I wanted a desk job somewhere I could spend my time with... My family." He shook his head. "Instead I ended up bringing the war home with me." He shook his head.
Looking back on the various soldiers who had betrayed him over time. "It never feels good when an ally stabs you in the back, and that's why I tend to be selective of the people I work with. It's why I don't trust the costumed folks, they can't even keep their issues from going international." He rolled his eyes referring to an incident with the powered folk in some international airport fight.
"So if we are working together now, and you want to catch this guy, are you comfortable that we are playing by my book?" It was the veritable elephant in the room that he would not hold back if he had to kill a criminal. It wasn't in his nature to let a guilty man walk free so that he could do more harm in this world. "I'm happy to have someone along provided they can take care of themselves, but I also don't want someone by my side if they are gonna get cold feet when a body hits the ground. I saw you when I took down the smugglers that night, you didn't flintch when the sniper shot rang out, I know you have a strong stomach. The issue is if you are actually willing to put it to use."
"I'll let you sleep on that question if you need the time to think about it, before you were just feeding me information you could be held at arms length if I ever got caught, from this point out though it's gonna be different."
human
Suki Kimura
Suki shrugged as Frank tried to explain his logic behind choosing apple juice over liquor. "I try not to judge, first and foremost. I prefer to let the actual ones in the courthouse do just that. But just as importantly? Thisisyour place. I came here expecting to follow any rules you may or may not enforce here, like how you did with my own home. Plus .... yeah, you're right. Alcohol usually does screw over a person's judgement capabilities, among other things. But ... still, if I ever had to consider indulging in any, tonight would be the night. If only because I don't have to worry about working in the morning."
Regardless, she didn't push her juice away. If anything, she pulled it closer and took a sip, eliciting a sigh of relief. Suki hadn't noticed it before now, but apparently her throat had been really dry. Likely from how long it had been since she'd eaten or drank anything before now.
A sympathetic smile crossed her face as Frank dropped a hint on how his own military experience had gone.
"I ... lost someone also, though it was a lot easier for me. It was another soldier. We knew perfectly well what we signed up for, after all."
Suki stopped, taking a moment to go over her reply. This was one of those times where words had to be chosen very, very carefully. As a fellow veteran herself, she knew some wounds didn't heal nearly as quickly as her own loss. The tone alone implied Frank had suffered far worse than her. Hell, what she endured was probably child's play if she could do an actual compare and contrast sorta thing.
"I'm not gonna say 'I'm sorry'; not because I'm a bitch, but you've probably heard that far too many times. Plus, words alone can only do so much. However ... if you wanna vent ever, feel free to. I may not know perfectly what you've been through, but I'm not completely clueless."
As Suki took another sip, a trace of a grimace could be seen as Frank got to what was likely the real point of bringing Suki here. Oddly, his conditions were very fair. In fact, her main concern wasn't even if she could pull the trigger again or not. Rather ....
"My main .... hesitation, if we wanna call it that, isn't if I can kill again. That's actually the easiest part. I .... don't normally like going against all the rules and protocol I've been taught. Yet ... "
Her frown became more obvious as Suki lowered her glass, letting out a frustrated sigh as she rain her fingers through her hair.
"Considering how tonight went? I doubt I have much of a choice if I wanna keep breathing. Kinda frustrating in some regards, but .... "
Suki shook her head from side to side a few times.
"I'm expecting there to be much more than just one lone, dirty cop. Until I know who I can even truly trust among my colleagues, it's the best thing to do. So ... "
Suki took another breath, slowly nodding as she continued speaking, "Yeah. I'll do everything I need to."
"Now I need to avoid getting screwed over like I did at the docks as well as tonight."
Hopefully, though, the fact she'd kept her thoughts to herself rather than uttering them aloud would help keep her from jinxing herself. Her head turned, staring at the dossier.
"Since we've all but made this partnership official, you got a laptop or computer at all? Because ... the next best way for me to assist you is by looking deeper into those names. Seeing if any dots connect, so to speak. I've never really needed one for myself, so I don't have one in my dufflebag."
gpt
Frank Castle
Suki explained that her main hesitation was that she didn't like going against the rules, but in the end she was kind of dealt a hand where they weren't able to follow a rule book. Not if they both wanted to keep alive and get results that actually dealt with their new found problem then they needed to work outside the law. Hopefully at the end of it the city wouldn't be so damaged that there was no police force and Suki could in tern go back to her job at the end of this. While Frank was fine with staying out of the public view he knew his life was not glamorous or even comfortable.
She also explained her encounter with loss, and told him that if he needed to talk about it he could. Frank nodded, but doubted that he would be able to open up like that. "I've tried the therapy circle, it's not really my scene. A friend of mine hosts a veterans get together every week, I could give you his number if you wanted to do that."
For now though it seemed they were on the same page, if they wanted to stay alive they would be forced to move quickly and hit hard. Frank got to the kitchen and started to get the pizza warmed up from the fridge. As Suki asked if he had a laptop she could use. He pointed her towards the living room. "It's on the table, It's tied into my neighbor's wifi and uses a VPN, so it's not easily traced back to me."
She wouldn't find anything embarrassing on the laptop, his browsing skills were not all that great so he barely used the thing. Frank was more analog, but he did know how to access things like the national archive to get up blue prints of buildings, and his home page was the daily bugles online web page for new york news.
"Truth is I'm not very good at the orginization part of the job. I was a soldier not a detective, I've learned a lot but the digital age isn't that easy for me. I can fly a drone or drive a car, those skills are pretty easy to pick up, but finding someone on the internet or doing a deep dive into cyber crime isn't my field." It was annoying because in todays information age the majority of crime was committed digitally a battle field that frank had little to no way to keep track of. "So if you know how to use that thing, go at it."
human
Suki Kimura
Suki's head would start to move, but then stopped.
"Hmm. I'll think on it, just in case. I've actually handled my post-war days much better than most others I've met and seen. A small handful I even keep in touch with. But umm ... I had PTSD long before putting my life on the line for this country. And it definitely wasn't from guns or killing people. But I'll certainly keep it in mind. Back-up plans are something I need to work on, apparently."
The last word was murmured in a very soft, barely audible voice. Had Frank been upstairs or in another room altogether, even he may miss hearing it. But with him being in earshot, he'd not only catch it, but realize she was still beating herself up. Proverbially, but nonetheless.
"I hope you don't mind if I bring this along? I won't knock it over or anything. Promise."
Suki would lift the still filled cup of apple juice up, grasping it firmly in her right hand as she stood up. She grabbed the files on her way to the living room and, sure enough, found the laptop easily enough. After setting her drink carefully down - either on a coaster or a substitute of sorts - Suki would check on what Frankdidhave. An internet browser, Microsoft Word, and even the downgraded Wordpad application.
Good. That was all she really would need.
The file would be set beside her left arm and promptly opened. While Microsoft Word loaded up, she began scanning the long list of names, trying to figure how to go about separating what would inevitably be a huge list.
In the end, she opted to list the cops that had been involved in rescuing the kidnapped women, whom they were partnered with, and where in New York City they had been sent to investigate. After that was done - which wouldn't be for a good ten or so minutes, especially now that Suki had one hand that functioned without any agony irritating her - she'd list the names of the women.
When Frank walked in next, he'd see that she was typing relatively well - and quick - despite her injury. Definitely not as fast as she could be doing, but for having a wound of any kind? One could certainly label it as swift.
"I understand. I'd probably be just as out of the tech-heavy loop myself. But I do have to sometimes use desktops or laptops at work. Not often, but enough I know what I'm doing right now."
Remembering he'd agreed to sleep on the same couch she was sitting on, Suki looked quickly back up at her host.
"You even tired at all? Because ... this can wait, if needed. Iwasearlier, but ... heh. Adrenaline's still going through me. I'm not likely gonna fall asleep until three to four, if I had to guess."
Which, according to the clock in the lower right corner of the laptop, was three to four hours later. It'd be one of those really long and annoying evenings, apparently.
gpt
Frank Castle
"actually at this hour I'm usually still running my patrol." Frank said in regards to being tired. For some reason it was always easier to commit crimes during the night rather than the daylight hours. He usually slept from 5am to 1pm, which gave him his usual 8 hours of sleep needed to run the rest of his day. It was an awkward sleeping schedual for most people sure, but it worked wonders for everything he was doing.
Today though he had forgiven the later half of his hours, because of the need to tend to Suki. He was content to go off her need for rest. When the food was warmed he brought the left over pizza slices to the table and sat on the sofa next to her, watching her as she worked on the computer. Not because he thought she would do something evil but rather he was curious about how the technology worked.
He saw how she was breaking down the various locations by heist and the cops assigned to them, and he immediately noticed something odd about the list. Most sting operations called for a lot of officers. "You said you had back up right?"
He pointed to the section that was her heist. Only two cops had been assigned to the pier that night. Her and her partner. Her back up had been pulled away. Frank took the notes for a moment scanning over them and reading the official reason for why the back up had been called off. According to the notes there was a robbery closer by on the other side of the view, and the cops who had been assigned to support her, had broken formation in order to check on it.
The only problem was. "The place they were supposed to be checking out, was in my line of sight from my riffle. I had been scoping out the site for hours, there was no other break in. They abandoned you."
He looked at her for a moment it was more than a little suspicious. "I think we can bet that the cop that attacked you was on the team that was supposed to support you. Do you know any of the names? any of their voices sound familiar or heights that fit the bill?" Frank asked trying to crack down the information a little further. It was something to go off, and if they find the dirty cop who attacked Suki, than they had leads for how high up this would go.
human
Suki Kimura
Almost as soon as the pizza was put down, Suki reached over and quickly took a piece. Normally, huge amounts of stress or border panic attacks would make Suki forget her appetite - such as the attack in the parking lot. But a combination of adrenaline still surging through her and the fact she'd finished a twelve hour shift with eating next to nothing had kept her desire to eat stronger than usual. It was a bit reluctant, but she ceased typing. Some people could type well enough with one hand. Suki wasn't one of those kinds of people.
She leaned back in the sofa, allowing Frank to see what had been worked on thus far. She'd finished getting sections split up respectively. The first half would be much more complicated. Primarily due to the table Suki had included.
Cop Team Members
Designated Location
Successful Rescues?
Kimura, Suki + Booker, Jonathan
Piers
Yes
Below that were simply the names of the women who had been rescued. Beside their names, Suki would note where they had been rescued and even their age. But otherwise, it was a lot simpler compared to the portion with the cops.
"Yeah. No one was sent out alone. We were all in --- "
But as she turned and looked at what Frank was pointing at, then proceeded to hear his words, she felt her heart sink. The worst part about his logic is it made sense ... mostly.
"My main problem is that doesn't match up with his last words before his ear piece seemed to go out. He saidnothingabout a robbery. If anything, it sounded like he was trying to warn me."
Her teeth briefly latched onto her lower lip.
"I ... get where your thinking kicks in. But the attacker literally could have been anyone that was sent out that night. Or even someone who wasn't. I did see a few key details and he was dumb enough to speak. I ... probablycouldidentify them in a line-up. But I'm not expecting one to happen anytime -- "
This time, Suki stopped because her phone rang, the sound slightly muffled because it was in her dufflebag. She stood up - a bit too quickly - and hit her leg against the table. "Goddamnit!" she hissed, limping slightly as she forced herself to move. Her head would tilt as she saw the number; that was one she hadn't expected to see until a few more hours. Suki would look back over to Frank and simply mouth the wordBossbefore clicking down on the green phone icon.
"Hello?"
"Kimura! Why the hell didn't you call me after the accident! Booker told me what he knew!"
Of course he did, Suki thought, rolling her eyes as she slowly walked back to the couch, taking note of her legs feeling very ready to give in at a moment's notice. "Because," she answered calmly, "It became clear that would have to wait. There were other things I had to do first and foremost."
"You're not really still at your own place, are you?"
"No. I decided not to stay home."
"Good. I'm not gonna ask where you are. I know enough to understand why that'd be stupid. So ... do you even know who did this?"
Suki went silent, partly to try to remember. And then, she was analyzing the voice and comparing it with the one she'd heard. No ... definitely not his. But that didn't mean he was safe, either.
"Not really, no. But I can say they were really bold and stupid enough to attack me while still in uniform so ... it was one of us."
" .... Shit. This was in the parking garage, right?"
"Yeah. But if whoever is half as smart as me, the footage won't be there by the time you fix it. It'll be hacked or erased altogether. The next best definite details I can offer are brown eyes and a Caucasian. So ... half the NYPD, give or take. The only ones I can say 'definitely no' to are yourself and Booker. I'd know Booker's voice anywhere with how often we go on missions together."
"Kimura, that's gotta be the stupidest line I've heard from you yet. I'm your damn boss."
"And that makes you all the more dangerous, does that not? You make the end shots. Look ... believe me when I say I'm not overly fond of what I'm about to say, but it really does seem to be the only thing that makesanysense at all. There are some cops working with the mob, and .... I can only surmise we did something to cause them to act. Likely finding and saving all of those women a few days ago."
"Thatwas their trigger?"
"Apparently. They could have acted out at any given time. But they retaliated after the evening of September second. It's not too far-fetched to say those women played a key role somehow. I'd talk with anyone who's been speaking to those we've rescued moreso when doable. See if there's some sorta pattern that can be found or something."
"Will do. Fine. So, what are you gonna do?"
"Well ... I'd say this is the most perfect time to cash some of my vacation days in. Youhavebeen pestering me to use them, anyway."
"I suppose so. How long?"
"Week minimum .... two at most. All things considered, they did a shitty job of beating me, but they did get my wrist sprained. I'm not gonna be able to do much, even if assigned to just my desk."
A sigh was heard on the other line before Holland resumed speaking, "Alright ... I'll just give you the whole two. That way, youshouldbe able to come back fine. I'm gonna mail you a report to --- "
"Sorry sir, but I don't know if mailing would be smart. I'm not likely gonna be there during this whole vacation. I'll email you one, though."
"Fair. Probably would be more discreet. Okay. Keep in touch, Kimura."
She couldn't pinpoint why, but Suki could detect that talk had felt ... off. Somehow, it had been wrong. She tried to think a bit more on why ... but failed to pinpoint the exact reasoning. Her head shook in annoyance as she grabbed her half-finished piece of pizza and took another bite.
"Anyway, names and shit? Yeah. Of course I know them. That's partly what the file's for; to remind me in case I forgot. Most of the force, though, I do remember well enough. This .... is gonna be a long night."
gpt
Frank Castle
Hearing the conversation was odd. Why did her boss want to mail her a package. Snail mail was not exactly the most secure way to send anything, not to mention it was slow, even in the same city it would take weeks or days. He wondered if the reasoning behind it was to try and find an address that something could be sent too. As if trying to figure out where she was. That said this was also her boss, he didn't know the man and so he was more or less immediately suspicious of everything that happened after her attack.
It seemed that Suki had the same kind of idea as she silently shook her head after the phone call. He was glad that she didn't give away his address, though he knew she wouldn't. He took a slice of pizza, and regarded her work as she continued. It was all odd, and there were a few cops on the scheduel that the two of them would have a chance to follow up on.
~~~
8th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Lieberman House
300pm EST
Giving Suki a day or two to rest her hand so that it was better healed, Frank had taken the list and had followed up on the various locations but he couldn't get much more physical evidence and he wasn't exactly a tech expert to get any of the grounded footage. The fact was he needed help, and the only person he really trusted was at this address, blissfully unaware that Frank had survived his various encounters as well.
He turned to Suki as the van parked outside of Lieberman's house. He hadn't told her where the two of them were going, just that he had someone who could do him a favor. "This guy's an old friend, he's not monitored or anything." He remembered David was far too paranoid to be monitored by anyone, not after the risk he had put his family too last time he had been caught up in Franks life
Getting out of the van and walking too the door, he had made sure that only David was home, walking to the door he did a military gesture for Suki to go around to the back door. He knew David, the man was going to run the moment he saw who was at his door. Knocking on the door. Frank listened for a moment as there were foot steps towards the door, a checking of the peephole, and then rapid foot steps away from the door, running to the next logical exit.
human
Suki Kimura
Suki certainly had raised eyebrows on how the talk with her boss had went. Absolutely. She just .. wasn't ready to evenconsideraccepting that he was in on this. It really was a heart-breaking thought. She'd sacrificed herself in this country's military and now law enforcement field ... only to get betrayed? Even if it wasn't by everybody, the implication it could end up being a very harsh reality hit Suki hard.
By the time she did get a point she was exhausted and ready to take a break from typing, a bit over half of the names had been copied and pasted onto the word pad.
All of the frustrations from earlier that day plus fatigue allowed Suki to rather swiftly cry herself to sleep. The sobs, though muffled courtesy of the pillows, were very likely still heard anyway despite her efforts to hide her emotions. Hands down, tonight had been one of the worst days of her life, particularly as a cop.
8th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Lieberman House
15: 00 PM EST
"So .... what are we doing, exactly?"
Although the days off - mostly, anyway - had been appreciated, Suki had also been getting a tad restless. The vacation had been practically mandatory, which made the talk she had with Holland that much more annoying. It didn't help that she knew even if she hadn't made the request, he would have done so for her.
Unfortunately, the most she was able to do was complete the lists for Frank.
And while it was a decent enough start, it wasn't much to go off of, least of all for a lead with ... anything. Her assault, why the women seemed so essential to the Italian mafia, nothing. Something would have to give in order for them to have even a half-decent idea on where to start making progress, let alone how to go about handling any information they obtained.
"So ... a friend you said?"
Yet from the way he walked up to the door to signaling her to move to the back, this already sent Suki a lot of mixed signals. Hehadsaid friend, right?
Could fool me, she thought, still nodding and hurrying over to the rear part of the house. She felt really odd about this, but ... Frank had yet to give her a reason tonottrust him. So, no matter how odd this was looking or feeling, she'd comply.
And when the door opened, Suki quickly spoke to the figure. "Please wait! We came here because we need your help! Me especially ... please."
Maybe he had a soft spot for helping women out?
It'd definitely be more preferred than having to chase and pin him down.
Should words not work? Suki mentally prepared to tackle the poor guy. She wouldn't like it .... not really. But that was why it was just a tackle and nothing huge. She wouldn't use her fists - not unless this 'friend' threw a punch first. Then .... well .... it'd be a different story. Until she could be proven right or wrong on what would happen, though, Suki tried using the more damsel-esque approach. Not that she was truly any such kind of woman in the first place; but if making a white lie about it would help them out? She'd use that approach.
gpt
Frank Castle
David stumbled as he ran out the backside of his home, he wasn't even sure where he wanted to run too, but he had seen frank at his front door and the man was a plague of bad that just kept happining. He fell onto the ground as he heard a female voice ask him for help, and he turned towards the voice seeing a young woman. The we she spoke with meant she was with Frank. He looked at her, the fear and adraniline passing out of his sistem. "Do you have any idea who you are working with?"
Frank emerged from around the other side of the house, and David pointed at him. "You know who that is?"
"Yes David she knows who I am." Frank walked up to David, grabbing him and putting him back on his feet, but also at the same time cutting off any way the other man had to escape but inside the house.
"The last time I saw Frank Castle I was getting shot at by the CIA. My wife and kids were kidnapped, and lets not forget the two days of time I spent naked tied to a fucking chair!" David looked to Suki. "You are traveling with the single most dangerous man on the planet. If you were smart, you would get away from him, hang around Frank long enough and you will die."
"Good to see you to David." he grabbed the man by the shoulder and pushed him into the house, walking with Suki. "Listen David, I just need a small favor or two from you, and then I will be gone."
David looked at the two of them, and then groaned loudly. "What do you need?"
human
Suki Kimura
Suki would give her own affirmative nod to prove she did indeed understand whom she was partnering up with. "Me being 'smarter' isn't my issue at the moment. But umm ... I'm not relaying my problems out in the open. So, inside. Please."
The young Asian would be the last person to close the rear door. Even leaned against it as her own precaution. All while glancing towards David.
"On any other given day, I'd be doing what my job entails, which would actually mean arresting him for intervening with a prior mission I did almost a week ago. Sir, I'm a cop within the NYPD. But ... long story short, Frank has actually been the only personnotto betray me so far. He's even helped me."
Her head moved from side to side, both in annoyance and disgust at the recent memories.
"We've gotten a bit of a lead regarding a personal, one-on-one attack that happened directly to me rather recently. And this ... is actually where you come in. If you've really had problems with dirty CIA, then this won't be any better if you don't help. But ... I really did come here strictly for help. I'm not even armed."
At this, Suki would raise both her arms beside her head, showing both her badge and gun weren't on her. Granted, she was like Frank in many ways and, as such, didn't technically need either to be competent. But she wasn't going to tell this strangereverysingle detail. Not until she knew he'd help out.
"Apparently, you're good with technology. I'm .... not horrible, so to speak. But I can't fix security cameras up."
Suki took a few moments to pause, trying to find any words that could be used to strengthen her arguments. She slowly nodded, adding a few more sentences in as they came to her mind, "As someone working among the federal government, I want to apologize. Hopefully you got a more official and proper one from the CIA themselves, but in case they didn't? Consider it your overdue apology. I can only begin to guess what you went through, particularly if the agents were dirty like some of the cops are now. That being said, none of my co-workers or boss even know I'm cooperating with Frank."
Her teeth briefly but firmly latched onto her lower lip.
"And, yes, that information could be found out. But I intend to have a plan should that issue arise. For now, just .... allow me to help history from repeating. We may not be as high up the ranks as the CIA, but this can be as devastating. If you've really had an incident with dirty agents before, you probably have a decent enough idea on what can happen just from the NYPD alone. So .... please. We can do this slowly and discreetly. But I really, really do need help with the security camera footage. I'll even give more details on whatexactlyis going on. But only if you agree. Do we have a deal?"
gpt
Frank Castle
David looked at Suki as the two people brought him back into the house. He did have a bit of a sweet spot for wanting to help people. He didn't really want to work alongside frank again, the man had put him and his family in danger, but that entire situation had originally been his own fault with the evidence he had found in the first place. He groaned after listening to the story that was given to him. Corruption in the NYPD, was bad. Of course Frank would be one of the people to uncover whatever it was that going on.
"Okay I'll help." David sat back in his chair, his eyes looking up at the cieling for a moment as he tried to think over his life. How did he get to this point where he was at the beck and call of a madman? He looked to Suki for a moment sympathy running across his features. He didn't know what she had done to deserve her new found company but if she was smart she would get away from frank the moment her business was concluded.
He turned towards his computer and stretched his body for a moment. "Okay what do you need me to find? There are over seventy security camera's in the main police head quarters so I need to know time frames, and areas to check over." Even with that information though there were a number of blind spots in that building that if someone wanted to use they could probably get around it.
Frank for his part was standing behind David as he worked. He didn't really understand how the man got into the video feeds, and explaining it probably would have taken the man longer than Frank had an attention span for, but once he saw the feeds on the computer monitor he slapped Micro on the back. "See it's a lot easier to just ask a person for help." He said with a small smile. "No paranoia, and no rope required this time. We get what we need to do our investigation and we get out of your hair."
human
Suki Kimura
A long exhale that Suki didn't realize she'd been holding back finally passed her lips as David agreed to help her out. She bowed her head quickly in appreciation, walking behind the two other guys and entering what was more or less the man's work space. "Thank you .... thank you."
Her eyebrows furrowed as she briefly thought. What did he need to look for? This was a good question, particularly since she didn't know all of the answers herself.
Suki took a few moments to pull her cell phone out, first pulling the calendar up.
"Look at the feed for the evening of September fourth. Should be a bit before seven at night."
As a new idea came to her mind, Suki hastily snapped her fingers.
"Actually ... this guy was dumb enough to come out in his own uniform. So maybe ... if you can find him before he entered the parking garage, perhaps? I was on the third floor, area E. So between six to seven at night, in and outside of that area? By the time he actually snuck up behind me, he was smart enough to use gloves as well as a ski mask and a goddamn bat, so ... any ability to see him before he put his lame disguise on would be incredibly helpful."
And at that, Suki turned around on her feet, the gesture alone all but spelling out she didn't really want to watch her attack again. Frank had been kept in the dark about the implied rape that she barely escaped. Knowing he was about to see that was bad enough.
Suffice to say, Suki didnotwant to have to view that once again.
Except .... she had to. She was the only one between the three people that got even a glimpse of her assailant and, unfortunately, this meant she would be the only person who could verify if the feed was the right one or not.
So, with a defeated sigh, she looked back towards the screens. Her arms crossed over her chest as she waited ... knowing the next few minutes would be painful yet helpful simultaneously. Finally, they would get a lead. With this, they would be able to make progress and better understand this damn case.
Assuming, of course, the correct footage was still able to be found.
It'd just be my shitty luck that they'd erase it, huh?
If the cameras failing to work had been a constant issue, though, then Suki was praying like mad no one had taken those kinds of measures. But .... only time would tell. All she knew is if she were the attacker, she'd try to get rid of the evidence. But then, she was smart. Given the guy had been foolish enough to walk and hit her while still in his uniform, it was a fair assumption to bet he wasn't half as intelligent as herself.
gpt
Frank Castle
David listened to her request, and nodded taking in the information he needed, he turned towards the cameras, and started to go through them. "This could take a minute, there are a lot of cameras to go over." He said looking through the archived footage was easy enough, nowadays most security systems stored their information on the cloud so it was easier to view and recall certain areas. Searching the time code of a bit before seven was a bit harder to narrow down so his first step was to find the incident.
He found the footage of Suki entering the elivator from the fifth floor, following her down to the parking lot, which lead to the first blank spot. Unfortunitely the security cameras in the basement didn't fully cover section the full attack was not on video. As he couldn't actually see directly behind her car where she and her assaliant had been. "He wasn't in the elevator that you used, or the staircase along side it. His approach seemed to come from the other direction." He checked the footage of the other starwell and elevator in the building and nothing seemed to line up with the fight.
Frank tapped his foot for a moment. "Maybe he came in from the outside? is there a feed for where the cars leave from?"
David paused for a moment nodding, he checked the external cameras around the time code of the attack, and that was when he found something. A young blond officer outside the building he was carrying an equipment bag, the type one would get for going to the gym or a sports bag. "Oh... hello."
He followed the man as best he could, watching him load the bag into the back of his own car, before opening it, and pulling a baseball bat from the back.
"This is about fifteen minutes before your shift ended, he was already in the basement waiting for you at that point."
"Do you recognize him?" Frank asked looking at the blond, but at the same time it didn't matter. "P3X, T1Z." He said more under his breath than anything else, looking at the liscence plate of the car that he had loaded the bag into.
"Think you can run the plate?"
David, chewed on his thumb for a moment. "Yeah, might take me a bit though, the DMV has better security than the NYPD."
human
Suki Kimura
"Y-yeah. That's fine, just ... try. That's all we're asking, so you're already ten steps ahead of us."
Suki held her wrists behind her back, moving back and forth. Her eyes remained locked - somewhat begrudgingly, but still - onto the screen. It was going to be hard to re-watch that cursed scene. She'd already known that from the moment David gave a hint he had the capability to hack into cameras. But now that Suki was watching with her own eyes, she was beginning to tremble a bit. It was taking every ounce of will power to keep her from throwing her hands up and exiting the house, all while declaring 'Nope, never mind me! Done!'.
Sure, shewantedto. Some portion of her did, anyway.
But she wouldn't. Not even at the expense of her pride or risking looking more weak and incompetent than she may have at the pier.
"Z-Zoom up ... if you can ... "
Regardless of whether Lieberman could manage that or not, she leaned closer. Her shaking only strengthened as she gave a quick nod.
"Seth Sutherland. I .... "
She held her hand up and moved away. However, unlike her original instincts, she wasn't bailing like either of the men may have expected. Instead, she got out of earshot and pulled her phone out. A quick browsing through her contacts and pushing down on Booker's number resulted in her usual partner picking up mere seconds later.
"Suki! Hey, how are you? Boss hinted you'd be away for a bit."
That in itself made Suki's eyebrows narrow. There were certain policies that were supposed to be followed. One of which involved giving away the location and identity of other cops, particularly when they were forced out of action like she had been. While it was true he could have made that assumption due to finding her at the end of the incident, it was hearing that Holland mentioned she wouldn't be back anytime soon that made her on edge.
And if she could do so without seeming too weird, she'd hang up right then and there. Sadly, there had been something she remembered .... something that almost slipped her mind until Suki watched the footage.
"He's right. But if you don't mind, that's not why I called. You said Sutherland was arguing a lot before we went out to the pier, yeah?"
"Oh, Seth? Yeah."
"What about?"
"Nowyou're interested?" Booker tried to tease, implied by the chuckling. When he didn't hear Suki join him, he cleared his throat. "Okay, okay. I can read the mood. Hear it, rather. Yeah, he did. Specifically about wanting to take my spot and beyourpartner. He was really adamant on that. No idea why. Obviously, Holland said no because the change was too last minute."
That's not the only reason ...
Still, this was valuable in its own rights. If hewasworking with the mafia and had tried to find a way to get close to her ... it made a shiver trail down her spine.
"Seriously though, Suki, why? What's up?"
"Let's just say ... I'm pretty sure he was the reason you found me battered and bruised in the parking garage."
"What,him? Come on, Suki. He's one of our newest rookies. No way he could get to you."
"Not if I were in peak physical condition and not exhausted as all hell, no. Hence why the assailant arrived with abat. And waited for me to have a really, really long day. Twelve hours long, in fact. Still gonna argue with me on this?"
" .... Okay, but how are you certain it's him?"
" ... I've been ... I suppose to put it nicely haunted in my sleep by that evening. Little by little, that flashback has been getting more vivid. Including details I didn't pay much notice to, like the hair color."
"Jesus, Suki. That's fucked up."
"The fact it was a cop at all is fucked up."
A defeated sigh echoed over the phone as Booker murmured, "Fair enough. Take care, okay, Kimura?"
"I'll try."
"So what are you gonna do about this, by the way?"
That was her cue to hang up and shut her phone off. The give-and-take exchange had beenveryhelpful. But Suki wasn't stupid. She heard and noticed a few times that she put herself at risk for revealing her own set of sensitive information. Like the real reason she felt so certain Sutherland was her assailant. This was another time the Army and her time there came in handy. Any other person could have cracked and said the wrong words.
Not to say Suki enjoyed lying.
But she'd already seen for herself at least one cop was rogue. Now, there was a good chance it was a decent chunk of the NYPD, including both Holland and Jonathan. The thought pained her ... but she couldn't shut her eyes. Literally or figuratively. The truth was all but in front of her and even if she didn't like what her blue orbs were seeing, Kimura knew she at least had to accept it.
"So," she slowly began to dictate upon rejoining the two, "That umm ... yeah. That should come up under a Seth Sutherland when you get the plates."
Her head slowly moved from side to side.
"I noticed. It wasn't like I didn't see or take heed of the few times he'd stared at me, but I ... didn't think he'd .... "
She couldn't get the words out. Then again, when the footage got to the right parts she was about to bring up, no words would be needed. All Frank or David would need to do was watch to fill the blanks in pretty well. Disgusted as she was to re-watch that section of the footage, Suki refused to avert her gaze. But she certainly did clench her fists tightly; enough toalmostdraw blood from her own palms.
Definitely hard enough to make her knuckles turn a bright white hue, though.
"That's so fucking sad, but ... you're right. Slowly but surely, we're decreasing in how much security we really have around NYPD headquarters. Sad to even consider admitting the goddamn DMV is doing better than the job I should be able to do."
Her head shook from side to side again, a disdainful scoff passing her lips.
Fuck my life some days ... Suki thought, shaking as she crossed her arms over her chest.
gpt
Frank Castle
Frank watched Suki for her reactions, as she said the name he assumed this was because she knew the man they were watching. He looked at her, a soft caring coming across his features for a moment as he did. He didn't like what had happened to her, and wanted to try and help her. However as she went to grab her phone this time it was his own nuckles that clenched along with his jaw. Some part of him really wanted to break her phone, or at least tell her that was a bad idea, but she was seeking out her own answers to this problem. Still the glare he gave her would tell her that he disapproved of her contacting anyone outside of the room with extra information.
He could figure out from the context of her side of the conversation that she was talking to her partner. Frank didn't think the best in people anymore, though she may have trusted her partner enough to give Seth's name he wouldn't have done that. It had been her partner that had found her beaten after the attack, it was reasonable to think that it was because their shift ended at the same moment in time. As david worked on finding the plate numbers through the DMV, Frank looked over the screens for a moment.
Frank tried to be quiet with his next question. "Can we find out what her partner was up too? the guy who came to see her after the fact, where was he before the attack?" He didn't think he would get to fully avoid the conversation with Suki, David for his part rolled his eyes viewing it as Frank Castle being Frank fucking Castle, the paranoid nut job.
Pulling up video of the guy after his and Suki's shared shift had ended the man had gone to the male locker room where there had been no cameras, and came back out wearing his civilian clothing, he answered a phone call, walking down the stairs towards the parking garage.
Completely normal activities for a police officer after his shift change.
Frank wasn't really satisfied, but the evidence in front of him didn't have anything wrong with it.
a moment after that, there was a ping from the computer, frank pulling up the file he had been trying to get. "Close, actually it seems the car is actually registered under Anna Sutherland, it seems Seth has a wife to whom the car is registered too." He leans back in the chair as he turned towards the two vigilantes.
"If that's everything than you are now free to get out of my house before my family gets home." David said looking at the two of them. "For what it's worth Suki... I'm sorry, both for what happened to you, and that you have to work with a nutcase like frank. Take care of yourself. People don't tend to last long when they are around Castle."
human
Suki Kimura
Suki would give her own irritated look back at Frank, not backing down from her decision to make the call.
I appreciate the concern, but I'm not a child. I can do shit on my own.
There was a more specific addition to her thoughts, really, but those could wait.
A weak smile appeared on her face as she gave David a small nod. "Well ... considering what we found, I'm gonna apologize in advance now. I don't think this'll be the last time I'll need your help. Hopefully, though, we won't have to return for a few weeks, if not longer. I'm not typically a gambling woman, but I'm pretty sure Seth isn't the first or last cop that's gonna pull that sorta shit on me. And as for Frank?"
Suki looked up over to her new 'partner' of sorts before glancing back over at Lieberman.
"Well ... I'm in a damned if I do and damned if I don't situation. The more I learn about everything going on in headquarters? The more I'd rather take my chances being beside Frank than with the people I thought would help me enforce the law. But I'll keep it in mind anyway, even if just to humor you somehow. Thanks again."
Only after both herself and Frank got into his van did Suki begin to speak, putting her seat belt on while directing her words over to the man beside her.
"I haven't forgotten. Hell, I'm ready - but not at all happy - to assume both Booker and Holland are likely dirty themselves. Your friend is at least sorta right with one thing though."
Suki sighed, leaning her head against the head rest behind her.
"Ishouldat least be able to take full control over this at some point.Mostof this crap is mine and the other cops' issue. Supposed to be anyway, but ... " Suki halted, realizing how she was almost beginning to sound for a few moments.
"Lemme backtrack; I'm not saying give up on this. I don't need to know you for long to realize how dumb that'd be. But Iamtrying to reassure that you shouldn't need to intervene, because this can be handled. Should, anyway. And yet .... I can't deny that evenifthat ends up happening, I'm finding the mere thought of going back as a cop less than appealing."
It was pretty disheartening to think that going back into the military would be better, even ifthatmay hold a higher risk of death than being beside Castle. But ... it actuallywassounding better to Suki.
Has the world been this depressing and I just have never realized it? she wondered, closing her eyes and sneaking a brief nap in. She'd need to be wide awake for when they met up with Seth.
8th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Outside the 24 Hour Fitness at 153 E 53rd
20: 43 PM EST
Suki wasn't looking it, but deep down? She was nervous. What she and Frank had agreed upon was very, very,veryagainst protocol. But at the same time? It was an equally necessary evil.
Besides, Seth pulled this shit on you. You can finally get pay back.
That had been the mantra she'd been echoing in her head the past ten to twenty minutes. However long it had been since she got back in the van with Frank.
This time, however, she wasn't vacating the passenger seat. Rather, she was laying down in the back. Not quite the very way back, but the seats immediately behind the passenger and driver's side.
You're really gonna do this, huh?
Well, it wasn't like she could change her mind. Reaching back, she gently patted her pockets, feeling the tools Frank had insisted she have with her. Namely several pairs of zip-ties. In her rear pocket, however, Suki did have her pistol on her. The immediate tools that would be needed were under the 'grab and go' sorta category.
"I'm not asleep," she reassured Frank, knowing Sukihadbeen silent for a good period of time by now. Enough that it could have caused some worry. "I'm ... I'm ready. Really, I am."
The unfortunate truth was a good chunk of her co-workers knew what Suki's car looked like. If anyone saw her driving this van, she'd immediately stand out, and not in the best of ways. That had been the main reason she agreed to do the 'grabbing' while Frank stayed behind the wheel. Plus .... it wasn't like he'donlybe driving. They were eventually gonna find a place to park the van.
Well, he is, she corrected herself, shaking her head and dismissing the internal argument. She knew what she meant and by this point? It really wasn't the main thing that Suki was worried about. In the end, it came down to if she could be fast and strong enough to succeed in this task.
You have to be. There's literally no room to fuck up.
Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath to calm herself. Slowly, she pushed herself up so she was kneeling. Thankfully, her height plus the cover from the outside darkness made it easy to hide despite technically being in otherwise plain sight. Suki quietly guided her hand to the door, readying her muscles so when they found Seth, she could pull it open and grab and jerk him in the van as swiftly as humanly possible.
gpt
Frank Castle
Frank took a breath and let her speak as they both got back in the van. He was angry with her over the phone call to her partner, but he kind of understood it. She knew these people, he did not. He wasn't a cop, and didn't know what it was like, she was. He had military partners, but most of them had betrayed him for one reason or another, then again that was also in special forces where the risks and oddities of the orders were higher in number.
Still the fact that she had told someone who they were after makes her liable. "You shouldn't have told him that. It doesn't matter if he's clean or dirty, now he knows your going after him, if he disappears or dies than your partner can connect it to that phone call. If he's dirty he can warn the guy, if he's clean he can report you."
Frank rubbed his face with a hand for a moment. Letting out a groan. "There are ways to go about your life in this. Keeping everything in house is one of the ways that you keep others safe." Of course that was easy to say when he had no friends or family. He could write off any interaction he so pleased because those close to him were long gone.
"This isn't an investigation, this is a fight for survival, and the way you keep alive is that you realize that we are not in control here. That we are out numbered and that we have to take every measure in keeping ourselves and the people we care about safe. Say something happens tonight, and this guy, Seth doesn't come into work the next day. Killing a cop puts every single cop on the force at high alert. Do you think you can handle it if he talks? You know what that is? conspiracy to commit murder. You're the cop what sentence does that hold? You wanna put your friend through that?"
"My life is easy, I don't have people that I need to protect. My job right now is keeping you safe, and the more people you talk too while you are with me the harder that will get."
~~~
8th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Outside the 24 Hour Fitness at 153 E 53rd
20: 43 PM EST
Frank looked out through the mirror on his van. He had parked right next to the cops car on the exit side of the gym. In short the guy had to walk past the car door to get close to his own. He kept the lights off which made seeing into the window difficult thanks to their slight low light tint. "You want a granola bar?" He offered when she said she wasn't asleep. The two of them had been staking out the place for a little while, movement had been scarce. He almost thought about going into the gym, but the fewer places he went into the less cameras would see them.
When Seth walked out of the building, frank let out a sigh of relief. He started timing foot steps. "Okay he's out of the gym, get ready."
His hand was on the keys ready to turn on the van to get them out of here a moment after they had the guy in the van. "Now."
He turned on the van as she opened the door and grabbed him, driving backwards out of the parking spot forcing him into the back of the van easily the doors shutting and locking as he turned the car around and started to drive away.
"What the fuck!?" Seth was sweaty, tired, he had just had a decent work out, and so his arms were in pain, more so now that he had just been rushed into a car. He looked around trying to see in the dim light of the van. "Wait, Suki? What the fuck are you doing?"
He could feel his hands being tied up, and instantly he knew what was going on. "Awh, shit."
human
Suki Kimura
"Please."
A swift movement of her hand helped rip the plastic apart, allowing Suki to raise the bar to her lips and take a rather eager bite into the granola bar. It was no accident she easily finished off about half of it in the first try. Her emotions were racing, and it only got faster as time continued to tick away. It wouldn't be much longer now until she had to move, and it would need to be not just quick, but precise.
"Frank? You're ... you were right. And ... I did agree to follow your rules, so ... I'm sorry about earlier. This is just ... not at all what I signed up for. I'm frustrated, I'm pissed, and I'm oddly more fine than I should be with this plan. I think it's gonna help me out in some ways."
Her head nodded as she took another bite, tucking the wrapper away into an empty pocket and only uttering a small handful of words after swallowing the bar. "Mhm, ready. Very much so."
The door swung open. Were this anythingbuta van, there would likely be a much higher concern on Suki damaging the door. Seth would be met with a furious glare, though she didn't immediately speak.
To help create an illusion that looked as if he tripped or even stumbled in, Suki grabbed onto Seth's shoulders and rammed her knee into his forehead. This was her way of dazing him, much like he'd done with the baseball bat.
Only after the door was shut did she angrily snarl, "Thought you were untouchable back in the garage, huh? Sure. Courtesy of using the coward's way out, you could be. My turn now,yaro."
After securing his wrists behind Seth's back with the zip-ties, Suki pulled him into the far back, helping the two of them lay low. More out of habit, though the extra precaution wasn't by any means a bad idea.
"You .... you'remarriedand yet, you were going to .... "
Suki drove her knee into Seth again, this time into his spine.
"Actually, no. Married or not, it wouldn't have excused you. But the fact you've got a wife makes knowing your original intentions all the more worse. You disgusting prick! I should shoot you now. Maybe in a few minutes. Depends how this all goes."
Her hands trembled, fueled by rage and anger as the flashback haunted her mind. Unfortunately, this wasn't the kind of shaking that weakened her, something he'd feel as her grip tightened. It likely wasn't nearly as stern as Frank's, but it wasn't weak compared to what one would assume either. Both her military and law enforcement experiences had aided Suki in acquiring some pure physical strength. Most in her upper body ... something Seth was quickly beginning to feel as she continued to squeeze on his arms, keeping him still should he struggle.
If he was actually being still?
Well ... this was the part where she purposely found ways to vent her still lingering wrath out. It was all being done non-lethally, so why not? And hell, she needed to ensure that when Frank parked the van, Seth was still here, so all more the reason to indulge herself slightly.
gpt
Frank Castle
Seth felt his body go numb when he hit the ground, he groaned as he felt her knee hit his spine and he felt his hands get bound behind his back. he couldn't move except in directions that Suki wanted him too. He groaned as he felt the ground swerve and sway under him as the van drove down the streets. He looked at Suki as she threatened to shoot him, and he actually cracked a smile, and when she mentioned his wife, he actually chuckled.
Seth was trying to struggle against his bindings for a moment till he felt pressure on his arm and he groaned in pain again going limp against her. "Ah Suki, glad to see your wrist is doing better." He chuckled, but then coughed from the damage done to his spine, he felt kinda winded, his head a little light at the moment from the pressure on his body and the inability to move making his breathing heavier he could feel the car moving under him, that meant someone was in the front of the van driving away from his car.
She kept the pressure on his arms causing Seth to groan in pain as he winced and his eyes closed. "Fuck you and shoot me." He said with a small cough. As he struggled to take in air due to being forced to the ground. "I ain't saying shit to you." She brought up his wife and he tried to laugh. "How the fuck you think I treat her? You women love having the shit beat out of you."
Frank winced when Seth spoke, he knew the man was probably not gonna leave this situation alive, still he was going to find a place where he could park the car, and probably hide a body as he doubted that Seth was going to be able to go home at the end of the night, certainly not to a 'loving' wife. He wouldn't let the scum of the earth hurt another person. Not again, and spouse abuse was one of those things that Frank couldn't let stand.
"So what, you gonna try and torture me? fuck you, that shit only works in the movies and you know it. You're a cop, and the fact that your already hurting me means you fucking lost this interrogation. But I tell you what... I'll tell you everything you want to know if you bend over and suck some cock." He felt her hit him when he made his suggestion, which got another sharp gasp of pain from the man. "You fucked up Suki."
Frank was driving through the night roads, and New York traffic though he was avoiding major streets as he drove, finally he pulled the van over, and got out of the van. Walking around to open the back door to show where they were. Back on the docks of New York, though a different defunct peer than the one where they had started.
human
Suki Kimura
Suki's head moved slowly from side to side.
"You don't get to make demands. Do you not understand the exact position you're in, Seth?"
Apparently not, as he opted to make a crude suggestion after speaking. Once more, she kneed his back, adding a low "Shhhhh" afterwards. This wasn't just Suki being a very, very dark cop. This was her at her best and most sadistic side possible. She hadn't expected to usethisagain, but push had come to shove. And really? It wasn't like there were many ways to finish this night with sparing Seth.
In fact, he was - whether on purpose or accident - only making his chances worse. From confirming he'd seen her to his inappropriate remarks, there were more and more reasons to comply with his demand to shoot him.
But not now. She was going to do thisherway; it had been what she'd agreed with. This was her first true test to see if she could deal with accepting his terms. And she was willing to prove that she hadn't simply said "Yes" to take the easy way out. She wanted to re-earn his trust, particularly after her own hasty reactions back at Lieberman's house.
Odd. Were he anyone else, Suki wasn't sure if she'd feel so eager to want to prove herself.
No matter. The moment the van jerked to an abrupt stop, Suki knew they were at their destination. It wasn't just the pier, but the exact same area she and Booker had been sent to.
She would stay silent while getting out of the van, keeping an arm wrapped firmly around Seth's midsection and dragging him out. Unlike the last time she'd been here, Suki had added a few extra 'props', though none that anyone would have expected.
"So ... you wanted to be my partner, huh? Back when we were all sent out to the piers? A lot of the others had been muttering something about someone bitching about getting the 'wrong partner'; I just never paid much heed to it until earlier today. I thought back long and hard and remembered the more vital details. Unfortunately, we're in a job that doesn't really allow for secrets to last for long. So, of course, there was one idiot whom I did manage to remember mumbling your name."
Suki shook her head again.
"That probably should have been my red flag, huh? But that's okay. I'm gonna make up for that, and it starts with you. See, you're only partly right. I did fuck up, mhm. I'll admit that. But you did too. You should have killed me. But I suppose that'd just result in you being found out faster, hmm?"
Among the many containers was a single crane with a hook already lowered.
"This isn't very well known to many of the others. Not even Booker or Holland. But I got quite a few offers to join the Berets. I was in the right military branch, and I was deemed worthy enough. I just never felt like I'd earned the right. Maybe it was incentive to help me change my mind, but ... Ididwork alongside a few of them. Watched how they worked. I dunno if you've heard anything, but any rumors you may have heard are very true. Probably the tamer versions, too. Damn. They're great at what they do; there's no real way to explain it. Not without seeing or being on their bad side anyway."
Hoisting Seth up high enough so that his bound wrists were placed over the hook, Suki took a few steps back. The angle would already threaten to dislocate, if not outright break, his wrists and maybe even arms.
"See, the thing about interrogations is there are certain key phrases or actions that once someone resorts to them, they've sealed their fate. You insisting you won't talk has helped ensure that not only will I get what I want, but you will too."
Suki patted her rear pocket where her pistol was.
"You were right in assuming I have it on me. Not yet though. This links back to what I said earlier; you don't get to make demands, nor do I have any obligation to listen to them. I'm a very patient woman, and I have all night to do this. So if I have to wait until dawn, I will. Now then .... why you're with the mafia doesn't really matter, because that membership's gonna expire when I'm done. So I'll skip to the more important question. Don't they get money off drugs also? So ... why did the women from the trafficking seem even more than vital than any amount of cocaine or whatever they tend to sell to people in Hell's Kitchen?"
gpt
Seth saw the crane, and it was around here that he realized that Suki was not playing around as he felt his arms lift painfully, he went from groaning in pain to actually screaming in pain as his body was lifted, and his arms did a clearly untrained loop around his upper body, joints bending in ways that they had not been stretched to do so, and because of that they audiably popped leaving him hanging at an odd angle as his arms dislocated and he screamed in pain feeling his lungs burn.
Looking around though it was only the three of them. Suki, Seth, and the mysterious driver whom Seth couldn't make out, especially now that his eyes were full of tears, from the pain he was enduring being held up in this unnatural way. Though his arms could be put back together as nothing was broken, it was more surprising that Seth didn't just pass out from the pain. "Fuuuck." he managed to breath between pants and sobs of pain, feeling his body like it was about to fall apart.
"Fuck you..." He said breathing, but shook his head. He hadn't actually expected her to torture him, and with her patting her gun and telling him that he was actually going to be shot, he suddenly wasn't really sure if he could last so long. She started asking about the mafia and he groaned in pain tears started to flow down his face. "I don't know!" He coughed breathing heavily as he cried. He was trying to move about, his feet barely staying on the wet floor the pier.
His pants got darker a small amount of steam left off his body, he realized he was going to die, and the pain, and fear meant he couldn't hold back. He cried for a moment his seemingly strong will breaking after a few seconds of actual torture.
"I don't know why the girls were needed. It was a bust! It was a bust just like any other Suki." he shook his head. "I was just told to hurt you, I got an invite telling me when you would be going to your car, I was told to hurt you okay. I don't know anything about the girls, my job was just to hurt and rape you that's all they wanted me to do. They wanted it on video... okay that's all I know."
Frank's head perked for a moment, and his eyes went to Suki.
human
Suki Kimura
Though there was no obvious cue appearing on her face, Suki feltverysatisfied with seeing and hearing Seth cry his eyes out. Fucker was getting what he deserved. As far as she was concerned, he gave up the role of a cop the second he laid his hands on her. This was a criminal getting what he deserved; Karma. And just like she'd heard time and time again, Karma truly was the biggest bitch that existed in this world. Even more so of one than Suki could be.
"So ... let me get this straight. You're telling me the Italian mafia just randomly chose you? To try to get back at me for ... doing my job at the pier?"
Her head shook.
"There's a lot of blanks you're not filling in, Seth. This is themafiawe're talking about. They're not sloppy, not as a group. They're not perfect, no. But what you're saying is you may as well have been a toy they won in a crane game and decided to give to a random kid. It's the same sorta analogy and frankly? If that'sreallyhow it went down? Well ... I guess it'll be easier than usual to deal with and arrest the rest of them. Still .... "
Suki slowly paced in front of Seth.
"Holland may not have mentioned it during the briefing, but I find it difficult to believe that no one else may have noticed something with the girls. Some of the names I got from the files ... we've already saved them in the past. So ... "
She paused again, now mainly to find the right words to use, only speaking after Suki felt confident she'd found them.
"See, the thing about going after a victim you've already hunted and hurt in the past is ... that leaves a trail. It puts you at risk. A really high one. And yet ... it seems like they'reverypersistent about wanting certain women in their possession."
Her arms went over her chest as she looked right into Seth's eyes.
"You'rereallysure you don't know aboutthat? Nor the true worth of these women? They're clearly more valuable than just some future escorts to sell off. Then there's also your story about what the Italians wanted you to do. You were supposed to incapacitate me ...andrecord me being raped? They could have literally chosenanyoneto do that. Was that something you volunteered for? Or were you given this assignment without asking to do it?"
Suki would go quiet, allowing this all to sink in. But in case the pain made it too hard to add up, she began to clarify herself further.
"This goes back to the questionable but sloppy work from the mafia as of late. If they didn't want a trail leading back to them, then .... things would have gone done in the garage very differently. More .... permanent. You don't have to kill someone to keep them quiet, after all. You should know. You toyed with that idea briefly, remember?"
Suki rose her hand, grasping it around Seth's neck.
"Granted, it takes a certain amount of accuracy to find just the vocal chords, but in the right hands, it's not at all impossible."
Suki sighed, shaking her head as she moved her hand away.
"Yeah .... no. There's more questions than answers I'm getting here. So one last chance to fill any of them in."
It was false hope. But really, she doubted Seth needed to be told this. Hell, for all Suki knew, he wasn'tonlycrying due to the physical pain, but possibly also due to any psychological and emotional now hitting him. It wouldn't be amazing if his life was starting to flash before his eyes. It was a phenomenon that commonly hit people in life or death situations. Even Suki had experienced a few of them while she was still a soldier, so she knew first hand it was a very real experience.
So now ... she had to wait and see if that was going to hurt her chances at getting what she - and Frank, technically - wanted or help them. Not that she was expecting a miracle, mind you,butSuki wanted to see if maybe one could arrive anyway.
gpt
"I don't know shit about the women." He groaned in pain, but at this point Seth didn't really have a reason to lie to her. Seth was trying his best to stay awake even as his arms were in agony, his feet barely scratching at the floor keeping him standing, but his body felt broken, his vision kept fading, and when Suki grabbed his throat he actually let out a whimper of pain. "My cell, they text me now and then, give me work, people to hurt, things to do, and then after I get it done, they pay me through transferable funds."
"They found out about you working that night, found some video footage from the docks or some shit. They think you took down one of the big guys that night, they wanted you broken." He looked at the ground he was gonna die, he could already tell that much, and his vision was blurring at that. He didn't know everything, but gods he wanted the pain to stop. "It wasn't personal Suki, just a job. We work in the same precinct, and I hurt people for them, it was a matter of convenience."
"I don't get to volunteer for shit, and I don't get anything more than money, and the occasional rape case thrown my way. My phone has the texts." He said biting his lip. "I'll cut you a deal Suki, let me go. Let me go, and I will give you my phone's password, I'll run, you'll never see me again, I'll leave New York, but if you kill me it's an Iphone, and there ain't anyway you are getting into that shit." He coughed for a moment, trying to barter his way out of the situation.
"If you let me go, I'll run, no words, I'm gone... I'll call the phone from some payphone." He was breathing heavily. "I don't know anymore than that, but with my phone, you might be able to track down something."
Frank's eye was twitching he hated the idea of letting this scum run free, the phone might be useful, but he was otherwise a dead end. He was half tempted to take care of that decision. To kill him, or follow him for long enough that once he called that cellphone he could just kill him, but at this point that would be messy, wherever he was going he was probably gonna stick to well lit crowds. If he ran chances were good that the man was dead either way. If not by their hands by the mafia that had hired him.
human
Suki Kimura
Suki's eyebrow rose when Seth spoke about the cameras. If he'd talked about the parking garage ... that was one thing. But at the docks? She had walked all over in the harbor. Neveroncehad she found anything to indicate she'd been watched.
Damn. And by now, that's a very clean, ex-crime scene. Hmmm ...
Otherwise, she would have gladly considered talking to Frank about trying to find and look through the footage. Although ... that did bring up another question. One she'd relay to her partner later ... after this was over, specifically.
"Whether this was personal or not isn't the point. We're supposed to be partners. Cops. Semper Fi, you traitor; I use that in and out of the military. The fact you were tempted with something as lame and petty as greed ... and even a chance to rape me .... "
Suki spat in Seth's face.
"You make me sick. You stain the reputation of any cop who may still be half - or completely - decent back at headquarters. Asshole."
Oddly, she didn't need to think nearly as long as Frank may have expected. In fact, she smirked once he uttered the words 'cell phone'. Without saying a word, Suki dug into his pockets and carefully pulled it out, sliding it into her own rear pocket. All while making sure to avoid touching it too much.
"I don't know who you think you're talking to, dumbass. Unlike you,I'mstill a cop. You're not needed alive to unlock that cell phone."
Suki held her right index finger up - more to Frank - though it was somewhat directed at Seth.
"If you're any bit religious, get any last prayers outta the way. I'll be right back."
With that, Suki would gracefully turn on her heels. She had originally been ready to pull her own pistol out .. but realized a few seconds later that would have been a death wish. In fact, itembarrassedher that she almost made the most basic mistake ever; using her own firearm. Bullets were very easily traceable, especially if one didn't take steps to cover their tracks.
A door would open. Frank would note that it was the passenger side one. Rummaging would be heard ... and eventually, Suki would return. The gun had been easy to find. A spare glove was a bit more difficult, but her hand indicated 'difficult' didn't equal 'impossible'.
"The honest to gods truth is even if you didn't want this from the get-go? This was gonna happen. You have no one but to blame for yourself."
And with barely any hesitation, Suki rose her arm, pointing right at Seth's head and pulled back on the trigger. No remorse, no hesitation ... one could easily mistake her for someone as ruthless and cold-blooded as Frank could be. Unfortunately for Seth, the moment he threatened her with rape ... well ... all mercy had been tossed out of Suki's proverbial window.
Ignoring the fact that some blood was splattered on her face, clothes, and the gun she was still holding, she looked back to Frank.
"Fingerprints ... I know how to scan and check for them. It's one of the few other material possessions I brought with me. So once we get back, I can check and see about getting that decoded. Worst case scenario? We can wait for a good time to visit your friend again."
Theyhadsaid, after all, they wouldtryto stay away for a while. They never defined how long that may or may not be. Suki didn't yet immediately move. She first wanted to hear Frank's thoughts, but more than that? She wanted to get at least a hint on whether this display sufficed to make up for her errors she made earlier in the day.
gpt
Frank watched Suki go back to the car, for a moment he was wondering exactly what she was searching for, till she came back and it became obvious that she was grabbing one of the guns that he kept around the car. He watched satisfied for a moment, he watched as Seth tried to beg, and was summarily executed for his crimes. Frank let out a soft breath feeling his tension ease a bit. He walked up to the small crane they had been using to hoist his feet off the ground. Frank unhooked the locks that kept it firm to the ground, and set it to course watching as it dragged the body off the docks, and dragged it down into the water, where it would cease to be either of their problems.
He looked to Suki impressed, as she looked at him, the explication of ways to get the information off the phone made him nod. "I keep a spare change of clothes behind the drivers seat if you wanna borrow it." He said nodding at her current blood splattered look. The implication was get changed now, so that she didn't scare anyone when they got back to the apartment.
"You did good, sounds like he was a fall guy, he probably didn't know who he was in contact with, but now that they had the phone they could intercept some of the messages he had been sent to get more information from his employers. Once word gets out about his death people are gonna start investigating, but that's part of the job." On both sides really, people would start looking for him. He didn't really like killing cops, but when they were corrupt like this, it was part of the job.
It sucked that the guy didn't know much about the women, but this was only the first avenue they had, and with the phone they had a much deeper rabbit hole they could follow now. Getting the spare change of clothes from the care, he tossed her a shirt that would be much longer on her. "Use your old shirt to wipe your face, and clean your hands up, then put on the new stuff, I'll clean the crime scene." He said opening a compartment in the back of the car, finding a bottle of bleach, which he started to splash over the wooden docks.
"The longer he goes unfound the better for us. We have the initive now to find out who he was working with, but over the next few days we are gonna start loosing that, we aren't just running up against the mafia, but other cops, and I'd rather avoid people who are just doing their job."
human
Suki Kimura
O... Oh fuck. What ... did you just ... ??
The reality had finally kicked in, and it did so pretty damn hard. Suki gulped, feeling her heart almost immediately quicken in pace. Even from her military days, she'd never resorted to outright murder. Any killings that had happened were done purely in self-defense, or from orders her superiors gave. But this? It didn't fit either of those scenarios.
This was murder. In cold blood, no less.
He would have killed you! Hell, he admitted he was gonna rape you, remember?! That's why you used a different gun and not your own; so you could get away with it!
And yet, no matter what she said to herself, it wasn't working. Suki didn't immediately move or respond. Not even when Frank spoke to her.
In fact, she remained perfectly stationary and silent until something was thrown over towards her. Instincts kicked in as she grabbed the unknown items, soon feeling they were the clothes Frank had hinted getting into.
"Was that really right?" she softly asked, moving towards the passenger door and laying the clean shirt down on the seat. The gun was put away first. Suki glanced back ... and after taking another shaky breath or two added, "Umm ... mind ... not looking? I just ... I'd kinda prefer the privacy."
Regardless of the answer, Suki knew she had to act, and everything had to be done quickly. She grabbed a half-empty bottle of water, removing it from one of the cup holders, and poured some of the cool liquid on her hands to clean them. Luckily, there wasn't much. The side mirror probably wasn't needed ... but she peeked anyway and confirmed that it was indeed her face that needed the most work.
So, Suki tilted her head back and splashed some of the water on her face, particularly near her eyes and on her cheeks.
The water bottle would be cautiously set back down. Suki's hands deftly moved, beginning to dry and rub any lingering blood away. Simultaneously, she started drying her hands off, cleaning them at the exact same time. And finally ... the moment that she hated but knew was a necessary evil.
Suki gripped the hem of her shirt and hastily pulled it off. Save for her breaths, the only other sound Frank would hear were her dog tags jingling lightly. The dirty top would be thrown in the rear seats. The Asian cop, meanwhile, turned around and walked closer towards the scene and, by default, Frank.
"You want me to do anything? Just to help it all go faster?"
The second question had been quickly added. Mainly as a precaution should it sound like Suki wasn't confident Frank couldn't deal with this all on his own. On the contrary, sheknewhe could.
Still ... the longer they lingered here, the more they put themselves at risk for being found. Common sense implied this was one of those times where an extra person to assist in cleaning up would be better. But .. if he was already mostly finished, then Suki was just as prepared to get in the passenger's seat and wait to return to the Castle residence.
gpt
Frank kept his back turned to Suki, as she cleaned herself up, he was busy doing his job, making evidence disappear. Honestly it didn't take much. The body, and the hoist had already sank beneath the dark waters of the peer, taking with it the majority of the mess, cleaning the actual dock was a bit easier, a splashing of chlorine killed most of the DNA evidence. the blood slipped off the aged wood, and the ocean would keep most of the actions here kept secret. "No worries my attention is elsewhere." He said giving her little attention.
The main thing he had worried about was the car they had left back in the gym. When the manhunt for Seth began they would retrace his steps, and eventually find his car. He had made sure that they had parked where there no cameras, did he just leave it for the police? In the end, with the secondary crime scene clean going back for the car would cause more problems than simply making it look like he had wondered off in a different direction or disappeared into the night without it.
It would raise more questions, but as long as the cops didn't have answers.
When Suki asked him if there was anything to do, Frank shook his head. "Scene is about as clean as it gets, by the time anyone tracks down this place, new york weather will have worn this place down even more. The only thing we have to worry about is him resurfacing, but considering he was tied to a metal crane, his arms won't give for a few months."
The only real lead the cops had, was Suki, and the fact that she had told her partner about Seth. Of course Suki trusted her partner, but with Seth gone, and that being the only link, it came down to if the man wanted to cover up a murder. A tall order for any cop. Frank wasn't going to say anything. That argument was over, and he would deal with whatever came from it, but it made the timer tick, added pressure to the problems.
Frank made his way to the car, getting in, and waiting for Suki to do the same. "How long do you think it will take you to get the phone unlocked?"
and with the area secured, Frank started to drive back towards home.
human
Suki Kimura
"Hmm .... "
Suki reached back, carefully pulling said cell phone out of her pocket. It'd be bad to risk butt dialing someone while they were driving back, after all. She lifted it closer to her face, grinning slightly as already, outlines of fingerprints were beginning to be seen. All over the phone, granted, but that was why Frank got the exact answer he did.
"Hopefully as soon as a few hours. A day at the absolute latest. You can keep track from the second I get my kit and begin working, if ya want. I wouldn't object; on the contrary, I'm curious to see if I've lost my touch or not, so to speak."
Either way, it's been a fuck of a while since I've used it.
Once the van started up, Suki pushed herself against her seat, using her purposeful movements and the darkness to keep herself as hidden as possible. She was supposed to be on medical leave, after all. It probably would lookweirdif any of her colleagues saw her out and about. It'd definitely be even more suspicious if they realized who was driving the vehicle she was in.
10th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Frank Castle's Residence
23: 22 PM EST
Like Suki had fairly guessed, unlocking the phone had indeed been the easy part. It was just about everything afterwards that was the real challenge. There were more numbers than just family and other people among the NYPD - although that in itselfwasa bit of a hint. Were all of these names other dirty cops? It was a possibility, and one Suki had typed up on Frank's laptop in case all of the listed individuals weren't there by mere coincidence.
Still, it hadn't escaped her to note the handful of numbers she and Frank could immediately discern weren't labeled as belonging to Seth's wife or any other cops.
But ... how to go about dealing with those numbers?
For now, Suki had typed all of those down and was in the process of trying to do a reverse look-up. Some of the searches came up with results, but a lot refused to give details. Without paying for them, of course; which led her to believe they were other cell phone owners, belonged to people who had purposely wanted to avoid being found, both, or even all of the above plus other possibilities that had yet to cross her mind.
Her hands rose as she wiped some sleep away from her eyes. The past few days had been both eventful, but very much exhausting. The point emphasized and more easily pointed out as Seth's phone abruptly rang.
She left it alone, naturally. Common sense revealed to her why it'd be a disaster if she answered when it should be in Seth's possession.
That number looks familiar though, she thought, narrowing her eyebrows as she stared down at the numbers. Suki had been ready to shrug the call off, assuming it was another cop.
Her guess was only partially correct. It wasn't until her own phone rang and the same number came up that Suki felt her heart skip a few beats.
"Fuck," she muttered, lightly gripping onto her lower lip before answering. It was probably not the smartest thing to do; she knew that deep down. But failing to answer this could end up being just as disastrous. "Booker, you know I still have a week and a half, yes?"
"You may have even less."
" ... Excuse me?"
"Don't play dumb with me, just answer me honestly. Are you linked to why Seth Sutherland is missing?"
" ... Do you hear yourself? I'm out on medical leave, Jonathan."
"I also remember our last talk. I'm not stupid, Suki. Maybe not as brilliant as you, but I'm no idiot."
Suki was glad this was a phone call and not a face-to-face talk. Otherwise the sight of her body beginning to shake would easily give away he was on the right track. "What ... what are you going on about anyway? You call me out of the blue and .... I don't know what you're talking about."
"So you didn't decide to follow through with your theory and make Seth just 'vanish'? Is that what you're telling me?"
"What the fuck would I gain from that, huh?! Look, you said it yourself; I'm not stupid. I don't evenknowfor sure still if he was who assaulted me in the garage. That was just a hunch ... a lead. One I haven't followed."
"So why is your voice shaking?"
"BECAUSE I'M PISSED OFF! YOU CALL ME AND THINKI'MBEHIND SOME SHADY SHIT?! AFTER WHAT I WENT THROUGH?!" Suki paused, trying to calm herself down ... even if only a little bit. "Okay, okay ... fine. So the shouting wasn't necessarily. But seriously, after the state you saw me in .... really now. Whatwouldbe the point in me trying to be as dumb as my attacker was?"
" ... I'd love to believe that. Really, I would. But with it being two days since anyone saw Seth ... and that also being when we last spoke ... understand that frommypoint of view, it's pretty ... shady. I'm sure you know that by now, since the twenty-four hour mark has passed, we've began searching. Prove me right, Kimura. I'd hate for my partner to be linked to this somehow. I really would. And it wouldn't be just me. Holland wouldn't be much happier at the thought, either. Hell, I don't think anyone in the force would be glad to know you've become rogue."
Booker elicited an exhausted sigh before continuing, "For now ... you're right. Just as you say you have no lead with your own incident, I don't have any definite proof showing you're somehow a part of this mess. But Suki ... it should go without saying that if I find even the slightest bit of evidence to prove otherwise ... Iwillbring you in. You know that, yeah?"
"Of course."
"Okay. I wanna be wrong about this. I hope when I talk or see you next, I won't have to slap cuffs on you. Take care, Kimura."
Before she could try to halt them, tears had already started streaming down her face. Her hands covered her eyes, trying to muffle a frustrated scream as best as possible.
He's right. You shouldn't have called him back at his friend's house. Now ... because you did ... this is what's happening. If you hadn't ... you'd be off the fucking radar!
At least for a while longer if not forever. Either way, she hadn't wanted to take this kind of risk so soon. And yet ... any chance of keeping what she'd done secret was threatening to be brought up and known to the public.
Her hands were shaking violently as they lowered and fell to her sides. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as Suki looked around a few times ... before beginning to gather her belongings. She couldn't stay. She'd fucked up, and just as bad as getting caught was knowing this would result in Frank being rediscovered. That in itself would open a whole new can of worms; one the NYPD had been so sure they'd kept shut for good. Murder would be but one of the few charges Suki would need to worry about.
And Suki knew that perfectly well; hinted by her stomach painfully clenching as a tight knot formed.
While she didn't know exactly where to go, she just knew she had to move. Likely out of country, if not at least state. The thought fueled her tears, guiding them swifter down her face and onto her shirt, a few dripping off the fabric and onto the floor even.
gpt
Frank Castle
10th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: Frank Castle's Residence
23: 22 PM EST
Frank hadn't been sleeping so much as he was just resting his eyes, the fact that the Phone seemed to be taking it's time to show up results was annoying him, and he wanted to pull up some of the numbers and check their yellow page posting. See if he could figure out if any of the businesses in the phone were a front for mafia activity. It wasn't that hard to think of, in the past he had dealt with a lot of restaurants that were money laundering businesses. It was a pretty easy book to fudge, that, laundromats, hair stylists and the like were all easy builds for money exchanging hands and fudging books to cover up the sale of illecite items such as drugs, women and the like.
It would be his next step, something he would start to work on once Suki had a better idea of all the companies they would be dealing with. His mind drifted over to her, the two of them hadn't spoken much since the interrogation of Seth. He was used to this kind of thing, numb to shooting someone at close range, and how that felt. He was kinda worried about Suki, there was a very big difference between shooting someone on a battlefield and executing someone for their crimes, most people couldn't cross the line she had. Part of him wondered if it was to impress him, or if she had done so because of what the man had tried to do to her.
that was when he heard the shouting. His eyes opened, and he could hear pretty clearly what was going on. Her partner had called her back, and was doing exactly what Frank knew would happen once the man stopped showing up to his job. This was the problem with having contacts outside of this life. Even David could be a liability in the future and so he had always tried to keep his team as small as possible, the fact that there even was a team now made him slightly annoyed.
Even so he could tell what was going on. Frank got up from where he had been relaxing opening the door to see Suki standing crying, and going for her things, Frank moved to cut her off with ease.
"If your thinking of bugging out, you can't." He said rather calmly, albeit sternly. He was looking at her seriously for a moment. She was a cop, he didn't want to have to fight her, and certainly didn't want to have to restrain her, but he would if he really had too, the two of them had been partners up until this point and he didn't want to harm that relationship, at the same time he wasn't going to allow her to jeopardize his mission.
He cut Suki off from the door, and looked at her sternly. "You run now, and you will be letting down all of the women we are trying to save, not to mention letting the criminals who hurt them go free. You're afraid, but now is not the time to second guess yourself. We've come too far for that."
He moved forward, gently putting a hand on Suki's shoulder, he wasn't exactly the best person to help someone in emotional distress, he was stuck in his own dark world, and she had seen a fraction of it now. "We are going to make it through this." There was no doubt in his voice when he spoke, he was strong and resolute. He knew they would survive, and if they didn't than it wouldn't matter anyway.
human
Suki Kimura
" ... Can't?" Suki repeated incredulously. Borderline insulted, in fact. "Look, I haven't forgotten your place, your rules. That's fine, but this ... what just happened. That's involvingmylife.Ourlives, if it the whole picture was ever found out. I'm trying to do what's best for us both, okay? So just ... let me do what's necessary, yeah?"
Well ... that was a punch to her gut. Suki visibly grimaced when Frank brought up the women they'd saved.
" ... Have we really, though?" she questioned. Knowing it'd sound off at first, she hastily elaborated, "A lot of those women ... they're repeat victims. If this ... whatever the fuck is going on has been for a while now ... is there really a way we can truly put an end toanyof this?!"
At the last part of her inquiry, she stood back up to her full height, arms stretched out to her sides before collapsing beside her hips.
"Let's put it this way, how long have the NYPD thought you to be 'missing' now? A year? A few? And yet .... for all the people you've killed ... shit's still happening. It'sgoingto keep happening. What are we even doing? At best, pausing and delaying some horrible things from happening to people who don't deserve it, yes. But ... there's no such thing as peace lasting forever. That's why we've been in so many goddamn wars, most of them for the dumbest of reasons."
Suki scoffed at herself, her head shaking in annoyance.
"Yeah ... military was easier and better," she muttered, swallowing softly. Her head lowered as she paused, glancing between Frank and her dufflebag. Her gaze jolted quickly back as the hand landed on her shoulder.
"Please don't touch me!" Suki whimpered, a shocked gasp mingling in with the plea as she acted on instincts and smacked the hand off. Even took a few steps back ... a good sign, in its own rights. It at least got her further away from the bag, if absolutely nothing else. When it sank in what she'd done, let alone whom to, Suki fell back on the couch.
"F-Frank I ... what do you want me to do when the next week and some odd days pass? If he goes to Holland and gets a warrant ... then what? I lie? I mean .... granted, there's no definite evidence yet, but .... "
Her head weakly shook as she looked right into Castle's eyes.
"Even if I do ... that's not going to work. Not forever. Youknowthat, I'm sure. This is ... this is exactly why I'm trying to vanish. Yes, that'll put a red flag on me. But at least it'donlybe me. You could stay hidden, keep doing your own work. Me? It's ... exactly as you said at your friend's; I fucked up. Really badly. I ... I don't .... "
Her head moved again from side to side, quicker this time, making her hair whip and smack her face a few times.
"Is there even a way to fix this? It doesn't feel like it. Not really, and definitely not in a permanent way. There are very few ways this whole goddamn mess can end, and I am counting if I remain here. There's not many with better 'endings' than what Seth got, and ... there's no way you'd want that. I sure as fuck don't. In the best case scenario, they fail to find jack shit against me. But then .... that doesn't fix the dirty cop problem, nor the target oneitherof our heads .... "
Not that Frank's was obvious at this very moment. But it was common sense. Ifanyoneaside from Suki ever found out The Punisher was alive, well, and very active ... oh yeah. He'd be in every scope imaginable.
"I really ...reallywish you'd just move aside and let me go. I'll be the first to admit I'm probably being a bit selfish, and probably stupid. But ... I seriously see few ways to remedy my mistake. Staying feels like I'm gonna make this much worse before better."
gpt
Frank Castle
"You knew this would happen the moment you signed up with me." Frank gave no quarter his hand pulled back when she said not to touch her, but at the same time he did not stand down or get out of her way. He understood her panic, he heard her but at the same time he didn't think that she was serious when it came to running from her problems, she knew that wasn't an option for them, she was just getting cold feet. He didn't blame her for that, but at the same time he didn't agree with her panic attack.
This was his war, the streets, and the criminal element were his enemy, he had gone into that war knowing it never ended, she was a bystander. Still he didn't just let her go. "If I need to lock you up with your own handcuffs I will, but I am not letting you past me, you aren't going anywhere." On that he was firm, his eyes scanned her to see how serious she was, he would rather not attack her, but he was also not going to stand down if she escalated that situation.
"You are having a panic attack, it's normal, we just went through some shit." He said nodding. "I've had a target on my head for a long time, you get used to it."
"Listen, You are in this with me, and I'm not gonna let someone kill me until my work is done. I don't know if at the end of this you are gonna get to keep your job, your probably not." He admitted there wasn't much room for a good cop on this cities payroll. "If I was one of the other guys than you might get to end up having a normal life after all of this, but you usually don't. What I know is that right now, your work place can't be trusted."
"If I were you, I would resign, say the medical leave wasn't enough and walk away from the job, then work on taking down every single person like Seth. Cause at the end of the day this isn't about us, it's about the innocent people that get caught in the middle, and with people like Seth around that's not gonna stop. These women are going to change from hand to hand, and those people that paid Seth to try and rape you are just gonna find another lacky and the next guy won't be so dumb."
"If you run out of the country, it may stop, but can you really live with that?" Frank shook his head. "I can't, I know there people out there doing wrong, and we have the chance to stop them because no one else will. So this isn't about us living through it Suki, it's about making sure they go down."
human
Suki Kimura
"I only kinda knew," Suki muttered lowly. Still ... he wasn't wrong. She knew enough that the moment she agreed to help out, things would get messy. To this degree though? Nope. That much she never could have assumed. Hell, the fact she ended up with The Punisher at all was a surprise in its own rights. A man presumed to be dead or at least missing. And yet ... out of all of the people thatcouldhave run into Frankandstayed on his good side ... it had somehow beenherthat met up with him.
I think I finally begin to understand what his friend was hinting at, she realized, fighting off the urge to roll her eyes.
Regardless of how much or little she began to admit knowing things would make a turn for a worse, the fact remained that it didn't change Suki knew. And it fell under the universal law of being a cop. Technically any position of power, but that had been drilled into her head the most when undergoing training at NYPD's Academy; ignorance is never a legitimate excuse for anything.
Either way, there was a very clear expression in Suki's eyes; one that revealed she wasverytorn. Still seeming to contemplate running, but not making any physical efforts to do so. Her muscles were a lot more relaxed than tensed. There wasn't any indication that made it appear like she was going to run, or try to, anytime soon. To be kind of fair, the more accurate wording was Suki didnotwant to get in a physical confrontation with Frank.
Evenifshe could get some decent hits in, it was pretty clear to her whom would win between the two. More than that though, she was just mentally fatigued and stressed. Fighting was a very last ditch effort ... one that she'd only use if pushreallycame to shove.
"Actually .... that thought has been crossing my mind. Telling them to consider my vacation my two weeks. Because ... you've got things you will and won't do. I have a few of my own. Lying is one I ... no. I'm not doing. I'd rather kill again, even at the expense of my sanity, than lie."
Whether it was hearing those words and revelation or something else entirely, Suki let out a long sigh ... and plopped down on the couch. Any tension that may have been lingering in her muscles seemed to fade. Now that she all but confessed that much, it seemed more and more obvious on at least one step that could be taken to work on improving her mess.
"Okay ... fine. Fine, fine. Point made. And ... no. I couldn't really live with myself much better. Plus ... a lot of other countries aren't much better when it comes to women and their own living situation. Lack of, in some specific nations. I .... know that compared to other places, it actually is a lot better to be a woman here in the States."
Considering her immediate option had been to flee somewhere in the Middle East - if only because she figured it would be one of the last places anyone in the NYPD would try to look for Suki - it made her near decision ironic. But that was a perfect example of where life tended to be harder for females.
" ... Fine. Fine, okay ... "
Her hands rose beside her head, with the right weakly moving back and forth, as if she were waving an invisible, white flag.
"I get it. Really, I do. And ... to help prove it, you can look at what I have managed to decipher. It's been a hit and miss. About half of these have been cell numbers. But there have been some actual businesses we can visit that Seth had contact with. I've labeled them all appropriately."
And even when Frank got closer to Suki, it would seem she hadn't just spoken to appeal to him. She didn't get up and run back to the bag. She stayed put, having seemed to agreed that running would be stupider as opposed to smarter like she initially thought.
"Thanks for smacking sense into me. If it ever needs to turn to a literal point ... please do. I umm ... it's been a while since I've had support with these panic attacks. It feels nice to have someone who does actually understand and isn't just bullshitting me."
Maybe not with the attempted rape part, he couldn't relate; at least she doubted that. But having knowledge that Frank, too, was a veteran ... that was enough. Far more than many other people Suki knew had. Even rarer was seeing exactly what Suki pointed out; he was being completely real and serious. Almost anyone else would have likely lied their asses off. And all - or a good chunk - in hopes of being able to get a chance to have an easy, or at least free, fuck session.
gpt
Frank Castle
When she told him that she would rather kill than have to lie about something like this he was honestly a little torn. Frank tried his best to make sure that he never invited people into his world. It was too dark. Too constant. Yet he had brought Suki into his war, and she was starting to see the price of it. He wasn't exactly sure how the war would end, he wasn't sure if she would be able to handle everything, but he sat down across from her. He was glad that she wasn't trying to bolt, and he did listen to her.
"I'm sorry." He said softly. "I try not to bring too many people into the inner circle, cause the way I live it doesn't get better. But I'm here for you." He was about to reach out till he remembered that she said not to touch her, and he backed away, his hands going to his lap as he looked at Suki.
"We're a unit now. Smacking sense into one another keeping ourselves on target it's what we do." He said with a soft smile, despite how this had gone he was glad to have someone he could trust, someone whom could hold their own and watch his back. It was good to know that there were people out here whom could fight with him. "The Panic attacks, I get them too from time to time. Every now and then you have a brief moment where you wake up, and you look at everything you have done and it seems impossible, than I get up out of that bed, and I focus on the parts I need to do."
"I wasn't joking when I said this was my war, you have probably heard stories about how deep this all goes for me. The lengths i put myself through to get the job done. But if I don't, if I don't put myself to those lengths than I feel like I'm just letting innocent people get hurt."
Frank rubbed his face for a moment before focusing on Suki. On the things she had found, and going over them. The cellphones were good, but it was the business numbers he focused on. "Seth was a fall guy, i doubt that he had any cellphone numbers that would call him directly. He was also married." He rubbed his chin. "If people think Seth's a loose end, they may go after her."
human
Suki Kimura
"Do you regret it? Your lifestyle, I mean?"
Suki took a moment to lock eyes with Frank's before lifting her head and slowly looking around at their settings. From the inside of the small house to any pictures hanging up, curtains, literally anything that reflected in her light blue eyes. Slowly but surely, they landed back on Frank. "I know bits and pieces about you. I can't say nearly as much as the higher ups do, though."
It was here that Suki paused, realizing that due to his absence, her words may sound a bit ... weird. So, she went silent and decided to backtrack and help him get up to speed.
"After you 'vanished' from the public eye, it wasn't just the media that ceased talking about you. NYPD did also. Because ... why bother, right? It didn't matter. As far as everyone else was concerned, the Punisher was gone and out of everyone's hair. Suffice to say, your files have since been untouched. Not erased, mind you; they weren'tthatstupid. But they're not immediately in reach, either. It'd take a bit for anyone to find and properly retrieve them. So with that being said .... knowing you're still an unknown factor, I guess my main question is .... "
"If you could ... don't be fucking stupid. He basically answered that inquiry not too long ago."
So, instead, Suki altered it to what sounded like a more fair rhetorical musing.
"What's the one moment from your past you'd change? Everyone's got one, and right now? It's steadily feeling like I should have stayed in the Army."
Sure, her sister would still be dead. But the concept of Semper Fidelis had been much stronger there than the past few years cooperating with the police. A saddening thought the more Suki dwelled on it. But ... there was no point lying to herself. Between murdering Seth and everything she'd found on his phone, it all confirmed her fears from when this bullshit started. There was a very high chance that there were other dirty cops. Even though some part of Sukistilldidn't want to, she knew the right move to make was do what she'd vowed.
Quit. Leave the force.
Well, that'll be a fun call to make tomorrow, she thought, rolling her eyes at herself.
"Is it .... do you ever miss your military unit? Is it weird I do, or ... is that some weird, typical side effect I never heard about?"
Not her best joke, but humor had never been Suki's strong suit. Regardless, a smile managed to adorn her face as she instinctively reached down and grasped the dog tags buried underneath her shirt. The metal necklace was one of the few things Sukineverleft any place without. Her wallet was one of the other items she always had on her, with her cell phone being the third.
" ... Sorry. I'm rambling, aren't I? You can also hint when I need to shut up."
A slight grimace appeared on her face as Castle gave his own concern. He probably wasn't wrong, but ...
"And we'd go aboutthathow now? I mean ... if I just appeared in her residence with little explanation, wouldn't that imply a bit ... much? Namely regarding her husband?"
Of course, there was a good chance that they may be too late. Hell, for all Suki and Frank knew, Seth's spouse may not even be alive. That thought caused Suki to frown more.
"Even with your logic being right, I don't wanna agree to this and waltz foolishly into a trap. Definitely not without having a plan, because ... that may be exactly what they want. In fact ... wouldn't it be better if you used your sniper rifle again? Like you did at the pier and kept yourself hidden? All it'll take is one domino to tip over and ... "
Suki snapped her fingers.
"It's gonna go around that you're not just alive, but well and very active. Which ... would be fine if that'salleveryone would learn."
Her head shook.
"That's not likely what'll be told though, and I'm sure you know that. Me being your partner will likely also be relayed and ... that's just gonna give Booker more incentive to ask for a warrant to properly look into me, if not outright arrest me."
Of course, that'd be what he'd say. The more harsh reality was it'd likely be a coded message. There would be a higher chance of Suki being murdered as opposed to outright arrested.
Still, in order for it to look like a legit accident or whatnot, it would mean the chain of command would need to be followed. Which thus meant steps had to be followed ... including her soon-to-be-former partner getting consent to shift his attention to her instead of whatever task he was actually supposed to be working on.
"Nonetheless, I'll be the first to admit I may just be over-thinking. That is a flaw of mine. So ... if you think that or have a better idea on how to check up on the missus, say it. I'm drawing more lines than conjuring ideas like I usually would."
"You can thank Booker for that," Suki internally quipped. Just because the mess that had come up was partly her fault didn't mean she wasn't still annoyed at it. Besides, that was the keyword; partially her fault. She wouldn't - and outright refused - to take all of the blame about Jonathan hinting he had his sights on her.
gpt
Frank Castle
"I don't regret it. I've tried to leave it behind me a couple times, did odd jobs for a living, demolitions, construction physical body work to keep my mind off of things, but every time i do someone gets hurt. I focus on that. I do what I do because I need there to be a better day. I don't go after little things, shoplifting, petty theft. I focus my effort on crimes where people get hurt, the serial killers, the rapists, the ones that need someone to stop them. Every single person I stop prevents someone else from getting hurt."
The one moment he would have changed, it was a rough question to answer, the answer probably seemed obvious. It wasn't a happy one to think about, he leaned back into his chair, her thought was leaving the army. He supposed in some way had he stayed in Iraq he wouldn't have to think about the one moment he would change. "Central Park." He said after a few more seconds of debate. "Truth knowing what I know now. I don't know how I would change it. Probably would have rather made it that my daughter had lived instead of me."
"Sorry that's a bit of a dark answer, but it's one of the things that always runs past my mind." He shook his head. He was trying to be in a better mood, and he nodded talking about the army was a better relief in his mind.
"It's not unusual. While you are serving in the army, everyone is like a family you keep them safe and they look after you. I have a friend that runs a veteran outreach program, I go to the meetings sometimes. Everyone has a story of being pulled out of a fox hole, or someone who helped look after them." He smiled at the memory of his own stories. "It can be hard to walk away from that."
When she went into what would happen when he was found out he shrugged. "I've been at large before. I've learned a few tricks, I am not worried about being discovered, and if that is what it takes to get the results than it's what I will do. I have safe houses set up through the city, when we get on the news it will get a bit difficult to move around, but at this point... more people are afraid of me than are willing to admit."
He looked at Suki. "If you do get captured by the police you don't have to go down with the ship. You can tell them that I coerced you into working with me, knowing my reputation no one would second guess it."
"I know you said you would rather kill than lie, but working with me doesn't have to be the end of your life. It wasn't for David."
"But right now the important thing is that we get these women free." He sighed leaning back into his chair. "but what about you? if we get this job finished, and you get to go into a free life... what would you do? go back to the army?"
human
Suki Kimura
Suki grimly nodded. It was unfortunate, but ... he was right. Particularly as of the very recent past, people like rapists and serial killers weren't getting what they deserved. More and more, the justice system was proving it was very flawed in some form or fashion. Lawyers weren't good enough, or they represented the wrong people. Sometimes, it was the jury that got chosen for these cases. But honestly? The biggest issue were the judges who ended up giving the final verdict.
"Yeah ... it ummm .... fuck."
That really was the best answer to offer. There wasn't much more thatcouldbe added, nor was required to prove her point.
"You're not wrong. But ... if you'll allow me to play Devil's Advocate for a few seconds, therehavebeen some people who have gotten the right verdicts. Still ... you're not incorrect, either. Too many have gotten off easy, or eluded capture altogether."
Her mind briefly went back to that one evening. The one party she lost her innocence. A few tears pricked the corners of her eyes as Suki chuckled weakly.
"Maybe lawyer was what I should have thought about, not cop. Back then, it seemed like a good idea. Now, I'm twenty-five and suddenly feeling lost. Questioning most of what I've done and if any of it was right or not."
Once again, her job in the military was the only thing feeling even remotely 'right'. Something that was honestly annoying Suki a bit.
So ... justified killings are better than trying to deal with corruption and crime?
"You ... oh shit."
Granted. there had been a few times Suki had wandered through the house and noted certain rooms looked as if people had lived in them before. This didn't really seem like the kind of place that heldonlyone person, after all. It was meant for a family. So the thought had crossed her mind. She just ... didn't know how to bring it up. Or whether to even do that.
"Well ... it is, yeah. But if I ever had a kid, I'd trade places with them in a heartbeat. Allow them the chance to live in my stead. Families though ... you don't start those with random people. So ... "
She shrugged, knowing he could piece well enough where her trailed off thoughts were going towards.
"Some days, I feel like I'd have more luck adopting instead. Or maybe ... that's not a path I should travel to begin with. At least ... not while I'm dealing with this mafia fiasco."
Definitely not that last sentence, though Frank wouldn't be mistaken to note the omitted part Suki had hinted at, but not said out loud. She was also afraid of being a horrible mom.
A soft breath elicited as the topic finally got changed. For now, Suki was more than fine with that. The more precise wording was she'd worried talking about family would come off as a slap to Frank, particularly since he'd lost his own. That was definitely not her intention. Simultaneously, hehadbeen the one to bring it up. He hadn't really ever lashed out at Suki so far. Not even for calling Booker at Lieberman's place.
Upset, yes. But screaming or getting in her face? Nah. He'd never done that.
Still, she wouldn't have blamed him too much for losing a few seconds of his control and done just that with a much more sensitive topic. So in that regard? It was why the Asian was glad the topic had changed.
Suki nodded, feeling at least more confident in hearing Frank did have some back-up plans in the forms of safe houses. Her hands slammed on the table, head shaking firmly no.
"Absolutely not. Frank, this is one argument you're not gonna win with me, nor convince me to change my mind about. I'm not lying. Least of all about being forced by you to work by your side. It'd be the same if we were in the military together. I'd own up to my mistake. This was something I agreed upon to myself; if this goes really far south in the long run, I'm fully prepared and expecting to take every consequence that comes from my actions and decisions. From executing Seth to everything before and after that."
Another exhale, this one meant to help calm Suki down. Her goal wasn't to bitch at Castle, after all. Shedid, however, want to voice she wasveryserious about some of her beliefs staying the same.
"Besides ... if they end up using a polygraph test? It'd make your suggestion pointless. The problem with your idea, in fact, is they know me as well as they know you. So evenifit sounds like something you'd probably have done ... they know it's not an easy feat to make me - through any means, at that rate - work with someone else. Especially if it leads to breaking the rules. Some people can fool those tests .... "
Suki's head slowly moved from side to side.
"Fuck if I know how they do it, but I'm not one of those people. As for what I'd do? I'm not certain. Military's a possibility, but not a definite answer. Contrary to how I acted a few moments ago, I'm rather enjoying being around you. You're fun in your own weird ways. So unless you accompanied me into the Army, I'm not sure I'd wanna leave so easily."
A more genuine grin appeared for the first time in quite a while. Several hours, give or take. Alas now ... they were both back to the same starting point. To save Seth's wife or not.
"Well ... okay. Let's do a hypothetical scenario for a bit. Let's assume we're not too late and Seth's wife can still be saved. When do we head out and - most importantly - where do we help her go? One of your safe houses? Somewhere else completely?"
In the grand scheme of things, even Suki admitted they didn'thaveto really explain why or how they knew she was in danger. In fact, if she was in the midst of being hunted down already ... she may be too shaken to ask. Even though it resulted in Suki feeling a bit horrible with herself, some part of her was alright with not being asked many questions. It reallywouldbe awkward as fuck to admit she was speaking with the same individual who had made her become a widow.
gpt
Frank Castle
"Oh this house isn't like that." He said softly. "About a month or two back I saved a young mans life, he owned the apartment and after we spent a bit of time speaking to one another he let me stay here rent free while he is flipping a house in main." Frank admitted he was basically squating but it was at least a lawful squat, a form of house sitting as it were. Even so he was prepared to move if the home was found out, and he had made sure to keep enough plausible denyability if it did get raided so that his friend could claim innocence. From the way that Suki had reacted it seemed like she thought this was a former drug den or gang banger home, and while he knew a few abandoned buildings like that his safe houses were usually more innocent than that.
It seemed he lost the argument when it came to her giving herself some plausible deniability as well. The fact that she would rather serve time than attempt to sell him out meant a lot, but when she said that she had enjoyed her time with him he cracked and couldn't help but laugh at that comment. Nothing the two of them had really been fun as the word suggested, but he had to admit that he had enjoyed having someone to talk too, someone who was at least good enough at conversation.
Despite everything the two had to face he had to admit that he enjoyed her company a lot. "I don't know I've been doing what I do for so long now I'm not sure I know what a normal life looks like anymore." He said softly, but he caught something about her words, the way she talked about having him near, and the fact that she wouldn't start a family with just anyone. "The army isn't a bad idea, but I'm not sure if I could. Too many psyche evaluations they may not take me back without demanding therapy hours."
Was she implying that she would start one with him? He tried to deflect from those comments for a little while, when she talked about going after Seth's wife if she was still alive, he ran a hand along his chin and considered. "Honestly I'd want her out of state, probably get her on the next greyhound buss to mane if it were up to me."
Keeping anyone alive who was untrained and unknown at this point would be difficult, it would have been better to just extract and get them out. "Cash for a bus ticket is easy enough to get. The only real issue is do we think that she was in on it, or was she just another victim. Either way we should expect a trap. The Mafia hired Seth to hurt you, by now they probably know Seth is gone, they never tried his cellphone so we can assume that they assume the worst."
"If the first assassin fails, they will hire someone better to do the second hit." Frank said. "Either way we should go in the morning. While I don't like the idea of working in daylight it's probably safer."
human
Suki Kimura
"I see ... okay."
Well ... that definitely helped Suki feel less awkward. If she'd been in the exact same place where Frank and his family had resided ... it probably would have been too uncomfortable. She was already - unintentionally, but still - taking a role of sorts in Frank's life. Maybe not to the degree of a lover or even wife. But ... it was much more than just an acquaintance.
"Would she even ... ??"
Those thoughts were quickly snuffed before they could even finish echoing in Suki's head. Evenifthe answer was yes ... that'd require a lot more scenarios to happen. All very specific ones, too ... with each having a less likely chance to happen than the next step.
You're being too hopeful. Maybe get a shower in ...
She didn't need it due to bad odor or anything; however, perhaps to help get rid of any lingering blood, yeah. That seemed like a fair enough idea.
"Fair enough. Psychological evaluations can get really repetitive after a bit. It's typically the same shit, new person. Well ... then even if your other friend was right, I'd rather take the chance and stay near you. I mean, fuck. None of us are immortal to begin with. I'd die even if I hadn't met you. So ... "
She shrugged, allowing her thought to remain unfinished.
"State, huh?"
Suki latched briefly onto her lower lip before slowly nodding. "Hopefully that'll be enough, but ... it's something. Definitely a start in the right direction, so .... sure. Let's try that."
A soft chuckle passed her lips as she heard the rest of the idea tossed over, "Morning, eh? If you're gonna be fine waking up at an ungodly hour, alright. Just don't bitch if I have to wake you up somehow. I'm used to those, so you shouldn't have to worry about me. Well then ... " Her head tilted as she went quiet once again, now wondering if there was anything else to bring up. When the answer came up as a 'not really', she sighed softly and stood up.
"I may as well turn in while it's nottoolate and get some shut eye."
A quick peek at the lower right corner of the laptop revealed it was a bit past midnight. Twenty-six minutes after, to be precise. Good. She could get a decent seven plus hours of rest and be more than alert for their new mission.
Suki began to walk by, heading for the stairs ... but stopped when she was right behind Frank. She looked down, seeming to think yet again. Without any real warning, she leaned down and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"You're probably not the kind of guy for these sorts of things, so ... sorry, not really. I'm being a bit selfish. But umm ... really, thanks for helping me out. I did need the wake-up call. And I do appreciate the assistance."
Even though part of her considered pushing her luck and giving his cheek a kiss, Suki decided that was going a bit too far. So, even though his body felt nice against hers, she reluctantly forced herself to let go. Her footsteps would ascend the stairs. Eventually, Frank would hear the water turn on, hinting before she passed out she was getting herself cleaned up and presentable.
The water would only run for about ten minutes, if even that, before shutting off. The light where he'd been letting Suki sleep vanished, leaving Frank alone with the laptop and all of the data Suki had been putting, collecting, and saving since they began working together. The sheets that weren't pulled up were accessible on the desktop, having been put there as opposed to a folder .... though Suki promised herself to change that.
She'd kept everything in the open for simplicity's sake.
However, she knew not everything would remain 'easy' forever.
11th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: En Route To The Sutherland Residence
8:52 AM EST
So ... it wasn't as early as Suki had wanted. But considering it wasn't even ten o'clock yet? This was a good enough start. And probably the best she'd get.
Apparently though, Frank had seemed to need a bit of extra rest. In fact, he looked like he barely got any shut eye, if any ... which honestly worried her.
"You sure you don't wanna stay in the van and I handle this?"
Of course, considering she was asking this as they were already on their way to Seth's house ... it seemed pretty damn redundant. But still ... she could at least extend the offer. It'd make Suki feel better if she tried and failed than outright not mentioning it.
" .... Just ... don't you dare fall asleep behind the wheel. The moment it looks like you're about to, I'm driving."
The lack of a word such as 'deal?' implied this was another thing she wouldn't allow to be negotiated. Not easily, anyway.
Until they arrived, Suki had time. And so, she used that to do a look over .... even though she'd done several of those back at Frank's place. Civilian clothes, check. No blood from the widow's spouse anywhere on her clothes or body? Fuck yes, check. Gun tucked away in her rear pocket? Triple check once again.
The gun, obviously, was more for any mafia that may or may not try to show up.
"I'd like tohopebecause of the way Seth spoke about her, she's just ... an unfortunate innocent dragged into this. Any woman with enough of an IQ would divorce a bastard like him the second they learned the shit he was into. I haven't met her before or anything, but ... I can hope."
The last few words were mumbled and much more directed at herself than her partner. But she wouldn't object if he replied to them. On the contrary, maybe it'd help her feel less anxious and more reassured he was, indeed, awake and able to drive well enough.
A deep breath resounded as Suki's feet tapped impatiently, her head promptly plopping and resting against the headboard behind the young Asian. She didn't like waiting - least of all when it was for something urgent. Unfortunately, it was all shecoulddo; wait and hope they hadn't acted too late.
gpt
Frank Castle
Frank hadn't had a hug in a long time, and realized shortly just how much he had missed something like that. He felt her body linger against his own, and he even managed to return some of her hug. She told him that she didn't think he was for this kind of thing, but the truth was he had just realized exactly how much he missed being hugged, how much he had missed any kind of physical touch. He had been so long that it had been easier for him to ignore that part of his life.
Watching her go, he was suddenly left with the realization that she was attracted to him, and that wasn't really the scary part of it. The part that was difficult for him to realize was that he had a soft spot for her.
He thought he was more or less immune to having feelings for people, or being attracted to another, but he was falling for Suki.
Was that okay? was he okay with that idea?
What about Maria?
Maria had been dead for 4 years now. Was it okay to move on? could he? He had spent every waking second avenging his family, but everyone who was more or less connected to their death was gone, after getting these girls free what the hell was he supposed to do? He rubbed his eyes feeling a very different kind of tired take over his body, a soft sort of melancholy that stuck with him even as he got up to go to bed he could hear the water running and would take his shower when he woke up in the morning.
Of course he couldn't help but think about Suki's body naked under that water, but he had to snap out of that quickly. She had nearly been raped, and she had told him that she had survived one other attempt. Sex was probably out of the picture.
And even then Maria! Would she have moved on by now if their places were switched? Would he want her to move on? There was the obvious answer which was yes he would have wanted his wife to be happy if he was dead, but there was also a very selfish part of him that had to admit no, the thought of Maria with anyone else even if he had been dead in this scenario would disgust him. So he shouldn't entertain any fantasies about anyone else.
So we just stay alone?
Frank laid down on his bed, and let out a soft frustrated sigh, he already knew he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.
~~~
11th September, 2018
New York City, New York
Exact Location: En Route To The Sutherland Residence
8:52 AM EST
Frank held up the glass of coffee. "I've had late nights and early mornings before I'm gonna be fine." The questions had haunted him all through the night and he had tossed and turned in his sleep, dreams came and went too fast for him to really recognize what was going on in the long run. He hadn't really settled on any options.
The idea of leaving the Southerland house entirely to Suki was a bad one. Really he thought for a moment that he should really be the one to go up to the house. No one expected him, for all they knew the police may have been monitoring the home, and Suki showing up at the place could be used as evidence against her.
He was starting to regret ever pitching this as a mission.
Still the thought that Seth's wife could be an innocent wrapped up in a bad situation had crossed his mind as well. Thinking it over he was pretty sure Seth had called his wife a victim. "People often stay with their abusers out of fear. Divorce rarely works in those cases, most of them end up running away to womens shelters."
He looked at the street as they pulled up. cars were lined up it wasa residential area for sure, but nothing was out of ordinary so far. "Do you see any squad cars that would be used for house monitoring?"
human
Suki Kimura
Suki stared at Frank, almost half-expecting his eyes to start closing or his exhaustion to kick in. Not everyone could consume caffeine and have it work for them, after all. She didn't knoweverythingabout the Punisher; mainly the basics, more than much else. And even then, those were more linked to his work habits rather than food or drink preferences.
In the end, though, it seemed like he hadn't just said he was fine to reassure her. The van remained steady and there appeared to be no dire reason to fret.
A soft breath passed her lips as Suki shifted in her seat. She tugged at her shirt, pulling and making damn sure her bulletproof vest was concealed under her shirt. It likely looked a bit bulky ... and may give away she was wearing one. Hopefully, though, the precaution would go mostly - if not completely - unnoticed should any mafia already be at the Sutherland residence. Simultaneously, she ensured to cover her gun, keeping it hidden as best as possible.
"It didn't come off like he was resorting to physical abuse. Maybe neglect ... not loving her as much as he could have ... "
Suki shrugged. Honestly, at this point, it didn't matter. That bastard was - thankfully - gone. Someone she'd never have to worry about. And if his 'true colors' had been any indication to go off of? She'd done Anna a favor in the long run, even if it could be argued otherwise.
As Frank parked the van, Suki stayed put. Partly to figure out how to go about approaching this issue. It still would be a tad bit awkward, even if she could avoid admitting the reason Seth was dead was due to her. But there was another reason she hadn't immediately exited the vehicle; she was checking their surroundings. Looking for any clues they'd come over too late or even seeking an answer to Frank's question.
"Nah. We're definitely in the clear as far as covert squad cars go. So ... it's whether we got here quick enough or not."
Suki took another breath, a hand running through her hair as she stared out the window for a few more moments before unbuckling herself.
"Well ... I guess here goes everything and nothing, huh?"
Slipping out of the passenger seat, Suki walked up towards the front door. Her fist clenched, but before she could knock, the first red flag caught her eyes. The door was already open ajar. Suki grimaced, turning and nodding firmly to Frank. She then peeked around, double and triple checking no one was about to leave their own house before withdrawing her gun.
"Missus Sutherland?" she called out in a soft but audible voice, finally proceeding to knock.
No verbal response was given. The door merely creaked as it very gradually widened, opening further for the two.
Goddamnit ...
Already, Suki was wishing she'd been more adamant on Frank staying behind. Ironically seeming to sharing the exact same sentiment he was. But with the door already open and them being in broad daylight like this, time was of the essence. It woulddefinitelybe bad if anyone saweitherof them here - armed - and looking like they had just taken the role of the bad guys when they were anything but that.
A few muffled whimpers would be the first thing Suki heard. She quickly but quietly as possible followed the noises. Eventually, she and Frank would enter the living room ... where the curtains were pulled shut to help hide an already bound and gagged Anna Sutherland.
"Fuck," Suki whispered, tucking her gun back away as she moved towards the clearly terrified woman. "We're here to help, okay? Calm down ... we're not gonna hurt you."
gpt
Frank Castle
Frank got out of the car, and stayed alert. Coffee was great but there really was no better thing to wake someone up than a warzone, and while this wasn't the war he had fought in the military he was very familiar with the idea of breaching a door. When the door creaked open he knew something was wrong, drawing his gun and keeping it centered to the ground he was more than confident that something was about to go wrong.
The sound of a muffled whimper made Frank more warry, Frank covered Suki. Something was wrong, and while frank knew that he was following her. There was a part of him that screamed for more patience in their approach, checking corners with more than a glance looking for hiding spots, but the threat of an injured woman was more than the two seemed to be able to wait for.
When they got to her, they found her gagged and tied up, and instantly Frank cursed. He turned to press his back towards Suki and check the door, which slammed shut, "It's a trap."
Frank had thought of the possibility last night, and yet somehow they had managed to walk directly into it. The door behind them slammed shut, and suddenly there was movement. Still he stated the obvious and felt stupid for even having to say it.
There was the unmistakable sound of a pin being pulled, and a small metal can was tossed into the room from one of the corners they had failed to check, the small item bounced for a second, and frank cursed under his breath.
But he couldn't hear his own curse as their was a bang that filled the room like thunder, and a light as bright looking into a sun disorienting and painful, Frank felt like he was caught with his pants down, multiple figures more than he could count with guns pointed towards them entered the room.
Frank's eyes couldn't adjust everything was shaking, and he fired into the crowd, trying to aim between the double vision, he was rewarded with a yelp of pain, but not much else as Frank made a dive for any cover that this room provided.
human
Suki Kimura
" ... We knew that was a possibility, Frank," Suki replied calmly but firmly. The better wording was she'd bemoreamazed if they had been able to do this without any consequences. Thiswasthe mafia they were dealing with, after all. Their crimes were by no means 'perfect' when it came to being organized, but that was exactly what it meant. And so .... it seemed a bit of a given that they may be a few stepsbehindtheir opponent as opposed to in front like the two were accustomed to.
However, even Suki couldn't fully admit the door shutting was something she took into account.
"Frank, got a blade on you so I can free her?"
Her eyes widened as the next - and far more dangerous - unexpected factor was literally thrown into the room. "Shit!" she hissed, raising her arms as quickly as possible to lessen the light flashing in her eyes.
Flashbangs? Why the fuck are they using those?
Being organized was one thing. But this ... it was bordering dealing with people who were good at guerrilla warfare tactics. Already, this made them much more dangerous than Suki originally expected.
Suki's free hand rose to cover one of her ears, though she could feel it had happened a few seconds too late. The flashbang had already landed and goddamn ... that impact. Her head was already beginning to throb.
"Oh fuck! She's -- n --- a -- ne!"
It was at these words her eyes slowly began to open, arm lowering to give Suki the ability to see. Try to, anyway.
"D--'t mo--!!"
It was only kinda understood what was being said, but not very well. Either way, even if it was against her better judgement, she went against the warning and hastily crawled behind a recliner. The couch had been her first thought, but ... not with Anna on it. That'd put her at an even more unnecessary risk than she was already in.
Suki would barely finish hiding before her own cry joined whomever Frank had got. Her head jerked as she found her left leg had gotten hit.
Well, nowhere near an overly dangerous area, like the kneecap. That much was good.
Still though ... she thought, biting her lower lip in annoyance as she shakily panted and breathed in between winces. This wasn't her first time being shot. Just in a while ... long enough for her body to temporarily forget what the sensation had felt like. Her head lifted as she finally snapped out of her trance and grasped her gun once again.
"Don't even think about it. That last hit was a generous warning. Next time, it'll be worse."
Suki fought off the urge to audibly scoff.
Uh-huh, right. Dude, I don't know who you're trying to fool, but it ain't me.
The Asian cop carefully peeked out from behind, trying to find the nearest person to shoot at. Right before she could pull back on the trigger, a separate barrel found her own head.
"Drop it.Now."
Suki's head shamefully bowed. This wasmortifyingfor her. Third fucking time Frank saw her so easily overpowered and disarmed. And this time, it was even more up-close than the last encounters. A handful of her hair was wrapped in a foreign fist, yanking Suki out from her hiding spot, having little regard or care that she'd already gotten shot.
"You have till five to come out, whoever you are. Otherwise, we just off her now. Five ... four .... "
Please just finish them. You can do this much faster and better than me ... you wanted to save her. So do exactly that. If it means trading my ability to live, then fine. Please, Frank ...
gpt
Frank Castle
In terms of cover there hadn't been much, Frank had managed to roll under a table, while his body readjusted. He hadn't thought anyone would be organized. It seemed the mafia had gotten their shit together quickly. This put them at a caliber of strength that he wasn't expecting. He felt sick, his ears were still ringing, but he was able to snap himself out of it rather quickly.
The feeling of shellshock passed him over thanks to years of traning, he saw Suki get caught and cursed under his breath, the guy was counting, and frank had to make some kind of move.
He brought his knees up folding himself under the table so that his boots could press against the heavy wood, it wasn't much but it was the best he had. the man counted to two, and frank took a breath springing himself up, kicking the table up and over towards the one gunman holding Suki.
The heavy wood went flying and caught the man forcing him to turn away, and in that single moment that his gun wasn't pointed towards Suki's head Frank fired, and struck the man in the head. He rolled forward keeping himself low and shot one more of the enemy watching him fall.
One of the gunmen opened up on Frank hitting his back, the jacket he was wearing hid the vest well enough, that as it ripped open he could turn towards the man and shoot him down.
four of his seven rounds spent. He was looking at Suki now,'come on partner shoot them already fight back'
There was one more gun shot that rang out not at frank, not at Suki, the bullet whizzed past both of them, and struck Anna in the chest, pushing her chair back over.
Frank had in a sense made his choice, he had chosen to protect Suki and leave the other woman vulnerable to attack.
He didn't want to lose someone important to him, not again.
even if that meant he had to sacrifice the one he didn't know.
human
Suki Kimura
"Frank .... "
It was the only thing Suki could muster. The only word that could escape her throat with no real restrictions or problems. She stared, clearly looking shocked. Him saving her back at the pier .... that was one thing. He approached her the next day and hinted he viewed her as an aid. An asset to him. So that ... that made sense.
But now? This?
He'd brought up this idea so they could get toAnnaand free her.
Why'd you ... ?? Why me?
Suki instinctively ducked down as another shot rang out. However, when another muffled, pained whine resounded, she peeked over to see blood flowing from the couch.
"No ... "
Everything they had just came here to try to fix ... the very person they'd come for ... shot. And from the looks of things? Very much dead. Suki's head slumped against the chair. Staring up in disbelief; this was a goddamn house, for crying out loud! Why were places likethissuddenly becoming war zones?
This isn't right ... this isn't fucking right!
"Holy fuck! Is that Frank Castle?!"
Suki's eyes widened and finally, something snapped in her. She didn't think. Her body had abruptly shifted to what could best be described as an 'auto-pilot' mode. She took hold of the man whom had been holding her at gun point mere moments ago and grasped that instead. Her eyes then narrowed, and an even stronger sense of resolve could be seen and sensed within the cop.
Had Seth tried to discard her story about Suki being offered a place within the Green Berets ... now was the moment she got rid of any and all doubts.
Her sight had adjusted well enough for Suki to pivot and take aim at the next closest assailant. Thebang!would ring out so fast that it was barely noticed. Same with how quickly and accurately the bullet found the man's forehead; the easiest, tell-tale sign was when he fell forward, bleeding from between his eyes.
Even though these men had come in with pistols and AR-15s, Suki was using them as if they were sniper rifles. And with as great accuracy as Frank showed the first night he found her, if not a tad bit better.
Two more shots would echo in the house, causing two more bodies to slump on the floor. All bleeding, all very much dead ... leaving a heavily breathing and panting Suki, who was slightly shaking. Her gaze moved, looking back to Frank once more ... only to have everything she wanted to say get stuck in her throat again.
Instead, she crawled towards the couch, hissing every now and again as a surge of pain shot through her leg where the bullet was still embedded. Wordlessly, Suki placed her ear atop Anna's chest ... and punched the floor angrily.
"Fuck .... goddamnit!"
An arm angrily wiped tears that had started to form. No more. Not again. She'd done far too much of that shit over the past ... what? Week now? Too long was the point, and even more was the number of times Frank had seen her get this stupidly emotional.
Besides, there was a more valid concern, one that Suki finally managed to voice as she turned back towards Frank.
"We need to leave. Now. None of these really have silencers, so .... someone's probably heard and called the police."
Before moving away, Suki did what Anna hadn't been able to and helped close the poor woman's eyes for her. She then crawled back over. Leaving her gun here would be really bad, after all.
But Suki never got to grab her firearm. Not before something appeared in her face. It didn't click as soon as it should have ... and by the time it did, Suki was panicking.
It was a pillow being firmly held against her mouth and face.
"FRANK!!!"
Even if her screams hadn't been heard, the struggles definitely would be. But the harder she fought, the tighter the grip got. Suki was definitely feeling each second ticking by faster, and with them, her conscious slipping quicker. Her arms went from flailing frantically in hopes of grabbing her assailant to falling limp at her sides.
Slowly - but very surely - the rest of her body was beginning to follow suit. Her chest was rising and falling ... though not at the pace it should be. Color was beginning to drain from her skin. And even when Suki completely stopped moving and even breathing, the remaining mafia guy wasn't. He seemed determined to get rid of their assigned target this time around. It was bad enough everyone else had failed.
But if his comrades were right in identifying she was with Frank Castle?
All more the reason she needed to die. Now, too, not later.
While still keeping the pillow held, he began to reach for one of the littered guns, ready to make damn sure he succeeded where everyone else had failed.
gpt
Frank Castle
"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.
human
Suki Kimura
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 knowexactlywhat 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.
gpt
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."
human
Suki Kimura
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 takingallof 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 copormilitary 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, andwhyit 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 weshouldswitch 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 witheverythingshe 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.
gpt
Frank Castle
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."
human
Suki Kimura
"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 wasalwaysworse 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 knoweverythingabout 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.
gpt
Frank Castle
"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.
human
Suki Kimura
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?Thenmaybe 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 therewerespecific 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, hehadbeen 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.
gpt
Frank Castle
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.
human
Suki Kimura
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 definitelynotwith '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 finalclickechoed 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."
gpt
Frank Castle
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.
human
Suki Kimura
"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.
gpt
Frank Castle
"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?"
human
Suki Kimura
"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 hersomethingmore 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 justhowlong 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 provedwhyhe 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 beenwaytoo 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 quitethisextreme.
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'thaveto again. Because fuck ... this isnotmy idea of fun. It really isn't. I'm not that crazy, promise ... even if I have done some really stupid shit before."
gpt
Frank Castle
"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.
human
Suki Kimura
"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 herdie.
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 wasregrettingnot 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, shewouldneed 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 wasexhausted... 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 knewexactlywhere 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 ... Ineverhad 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. Shehad, 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?Actualproof 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'sthisexact 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.
gpt
Frank Castle
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."
human
Suki Kimura
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."
gpt
Frank Castle
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."
human
Suki Kimura
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 actuallythatgood? 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 itwasthe first time that people were actually retaliating back. Not only that, but they were succeeding in actuallytryingto 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 recentDaily 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 theonlyright 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 anactualpoint 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.
"Ifheis 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 theBugledown and moving the mouse to wake the laptop up. "Still, as it is ... heisthe only real lead, so here goes, I suppose."
To say Suki wasveryamazed 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. "Hedoeshave the right boss, mindset, and capability, apparently. And with Fisk still in jail ... hewouldneed 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?"
gpt
Frank Castle
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."
human
Suki Kimura
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 stillinprison, 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 Tombstonehadbeen 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 youdon'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 Sukiknewsomething wasverywrong. 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?Thatmade 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."
gpt
Frank Castle
"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."
human
Suki Kimura
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 shehadbeen working for the NYPD. Even if some of her co-workers acted and even sounded like idiots, most were smart in all honesty. At leastoneof 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 wedon'tdiscuss 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 eversmackingher really fucking roughly. And it didnotfeel 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 Sukiusedto 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.
gpt
Frank Castle
"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.