3 News To An Old Friend

POV - Frank Castle (3rd Person)

Frank was a simple man, and after what happened with Russo and Rawlins, he'd taken to those simple pleasures to get his way through it all.

A brother he'd served with...betrayed him. He'd already called the number for that Agent Orange prick the day he saw him. The day he said something as fucking annoying as ''I point and you shoot''. So he wasn't too surprised when he turned out to be some sort of snake.

Scoffing, Frank took another swig of his beer before playing a little tune on his acoustic. Today was one of the rare days he'd come back to New York. Especially after the ultimatum Madani and the CIA had given him. Remember the stubborn Homeland agent, Frank couldn't help but give a smirk imagining how she's react if she knew he was here, in New York, visiting a grave.

But then again, he didn't care. He was here to visit a brother. One he'd lost.

Jason Todd. From the day they met in Elementary, they'd be joined at the hip. He was there to pull him out of the embarrassing situation when Maria first met him. Helped Frank actually reply to her and get her number. Joined the Marines with him...joined Project Cerberus with him. Billy Russo was one of Frank's brothers...but Jason Todd was one of a kind. His brother since day one.

Today was the day he'd died. Killed by an IED, '...One I could've prevented,' Frank chided himself as he stopped playing the guitar and rested his face in his hand.

He leaned back against Jason's tombstone. It was all hitting him again.

The images of his friend, bleeding out, gasping for breath; they were as vivid as the memories he had about Maria and the kids. Just like the guilt and the sadness that was inside him from his friend's death.

He knew he could've stopped it. If he'd just looked a little harder. Reacted a little faster, a little better. Jason would...Jason would still be here.

Taking another swig of his beer, Frank heard a twig snap to the right of him and despite the fact he'd had a few beers, despite the fact that just a second ago he was sitting down with an acoustic on his lap, he got up in a burst of speed and pulled his sidearm, holding it up as he looked toward the origin of the sound.

At first, he'd thought Madani or Homeland had caught onto him...but that idea went away as soon as he saw a familiar face. David Lieberman, also known as Micro. Some ex-NSA spook who helped him put an end to the people who took Maria and his kids away from him.

Lowering the gun, but not fully holstering it, Frank looked around before speaking directly to David, "What're you doing here, Lieberman?" he got to the point - he was never one for pleasantries. Especially on this night. On this anniversary.

But David was used to this behavior, having spent weeks with the man--he'd even been tortured by the guy--so he just walked toward Frank with a small smile, "How you doing, Frank?" he asked.

"Good," Frank gave a curt nod, still looking around the cemetery, "Now, tell me what you're doing here, Lieberman," he said in an imperative tone, not leaving any room for any other answer than the one he wanted.

David locked eyes with Frank and could instantly see he wasn't in the mood, so he sighed, lifting his hands in surrender, "I come bearing good news, Frank. But I need you to promise to put your gun away before I tell you," he said, breaking eye contact with Frank for a second as he looked at the still drawn pistol.

Silence ruled the two of them for a few more seconds after that was said before Frank slowly holstered his pistol and sat down back near Jason's grave. He picked up a new beer before stopping for a second and picking up one and handing it toward David, "Sit down and tell me the news you want to tell me. Then you can get out of here. You just being around me puts your kids and wife at risk," Frank said, looking away from David who took the offered beer and took the cap off, taking a swig before he looked down at Frank.

"I...I can across some news, Frank. News that concerns you,�� David started, nervously shuffling back and forth. Frank had to restrain the urge to shout at him to spit it out but he succeeded and waited for David to continue. "Today's the anniversary for Lieutenant Jason Todd, right?" he asked, gaining nothing but a terse nod and a sharp gaze from Frank, as if to ask why he was asking, "Well, I hate to break the news to you Frank, but you're sitting in a cemetery on your own, getting drunk and playing guitar...for no reason. Jason's still alive."

Frank didn't know when he did it. Or how he'd gotten up so quick. But it made his earlier burst into action look like it was in slow-mo.

He'd grabbed David by the throat, making sure to grab right where was needed to provide just the right combination of pain and fear in the man, before he growled out, his eyes steely, "I don't know what the fuck you're getting at Lieberman...but that ain't something you get to say. I watched him bleed out in the base's hospital, one of the best Corpsman I've ever had the pleasure of serving with couldn't save him. He died that day because of a mistake of mine, and yeah, I have to live with that. But because of that I know for sure that he ain't alive because trust me, I've looked...but he's dead, Lieberman. He's dead..." Frank thrust the taller man away before collapsing back onto the ground. His mood was so volatile because of both the alcohol and the emotional trauma today always brought up in him.

David recoiled, gripping at his throat as he massaged away at it. He looked down at Frank with a slight amount of fear in his eyes - he'd only ever seen Frank get this angry once, and on that day, Billy Russo got put in a coma. For a second, he thought he was going to share the same fate.

But no. David pulled himself together. This was his chance to pay back Frank for what he did for his family. For him.

Thinking that, David pulled out a phone and opened it. It was one of the latest types of touchscreens. Top-quality screen and images. Good audio. But none of that mattered right now. He pulled up a video--the only video saved on the phone--and threw it down onto Frank's lap, "Watch this before you make up your mind about whether I'm telling the truth or not, Frank," he said before sitting down on the grass in front of the infamous Punisher.

Frank bit back the retort he wanted to say, instead scoffing and putting his beer down and picking up the phone. Part of him knew that David wouldn't lie about this sort of thing but another part of him was so adamant about Jason's death. About what he saw.

But when he picked up the phone and saw a video of someone strapped to a chair...he froze.

Black hair, blue eyes, an annoyingly handsome face...and no legs. Similar injuries to what Jason died to and the scars left over to prove it. It...it was Jason, Frank realized, because he'd never mistake his friend's appearance. His eyes instantly shot up to David. He needed to know where Jason was. He needed to help him. But before he could say anything, he heard something from the phone. The video.

He looked down and saw them jabbing all sorts of shit into Jason. He saw the state of catatonia his best friend was in...and it sparked a fury in him. He'd just found out his friend was alive and now he had to watch him get jabbed with needles and tubes?

For a second, he considered putting the phone down and interrogating the location out of David.

But what happened next kept watching. Jason's legs, which were gone...were beginning to grow back. His flesh bubbled and ripped, glowing like it was full of heat and fire before it grew outwards where the stumps were. First, it looked like the bone was made, glowing hot like heated metal. Then muscles, veins and nerves grew out and wrapped around the bone, glowing just as hot as the bone. Then finally, skin came out and wrapped the muscle up. But what was odd was that the skin looked completely normal if not a bit tanned and rough. It hid the burning hot tissue underneath it masterfully.

Frank was unsure what to believe right now. This was like something supernatural. But he quickly remember what had happened a few years ago. The Incident that hit New York. The portal in the sky above Stark Tower. That'd seemed pretty supernatural and it still happened...so why couldn't this have happened?

Frank's hope for his friend to be alive was making him believe.

Then the people in lab coats around him starting cutting into him. Frank looked away and up at David, "Where the hell did you find this?"

Hearing the question, David sighed and decided to explain while this portion of the video was playing - it was just them taking samples from Jason anyway.

"I've...I always look out for ways to help you, Frank. To pay you back for what you did for me and my family," he admitted before sighing again and continuing, "You mentioned Jason a few times back when we worked together, so when I saw his name mentioned in some serious places, I got curious and I followed the trail until I found a subject report. Talking about how Jason Todd had the necessary requirements to be added to the project. Project Hunter. A super soldier program meant to take soldiers and make them capable of taking on powered individuals," he wiped his face with his free hand, feeling sickened by what he remembered from the other reports he'd read about the project, "The point is Frank, Jason didn't die. They 'killed' him and made it so no one would come looking. He's been in some secret hospital for the past year. So, in hopes of finding him, I went down the rabbit hole," he laughed self-deprecatingly, "Thing is, the rabbit hole started filling itself up about a week ago. Courtesy of your friend Jason destroying all the evidence on himself ever being in that place. I managed to get two things before it was all destroyed - a general location to where he is and that video."

Frank just looked dumbly at David, all that information being digested by his mind. But most of all it did was fan the flames of anger sparking inside him. Whoever'd done this was gonna pay. Though just before he was about to speak, David cut him off.

"Don't think you'll be able to go after whoever owns this project, Frank. Not because they're too powerful. But because they're already dead. Jason got to them. He's just as effective as you at killing things, it seems," David gave a wry smile before gesturing to the phone, "You might want to look back to the video. This is where the big thing happens."

Frank looked back at David, narrowing his eyes, surprised and at the same not surprised at how Jason had taken care of it all. He'd always been efficient but...a single week? That was fast.

Either way, Frank looked down at the phone and saw them injecting more things into Jason. Jason's veins and blood vessels bulged and began to glow a bright orange, like fire was flowing through him, and his body began to expand before it compressed. Then it expanded again and compressed again. This happened a few times before another thing was stabbed into him. Then all the scientists bolted out of the room.

Then the camera's sight was completely blocked by the color green. But what Frank could hear was Jason screaming.

He flinched.

If Jason was screaming in pain...then the pain must've been horrible. Worse than anything they'd had to experience during their time in the Marines.

But the screams slowly changed and morphed. Changing from screams into roars. Roars that sent shivers down Frank's body. Now, he wasn't a man who would ever readily admit that he was afraid. But...right now, hearing these roars...he felt afraid. Instinctively.

What...what had they done to Jason?