The Punisher: Vendetta

Freedom, freedom,Can't you feel the ground caving in?Freedom,Give us a reason to believe again

"The United States has officially pardoned you and Frank Castle, considering the circumstances," Director Swan tells me, closing a file on her desk. "I don't think I've encountered such an elaborate breach in intelligence in a long time."

"It's far from over," I assure her, not giving a damn about the pardon. "Rawlins and Schoonover are still out there. We have Billy Russo in custody, and we can start from there."

"Billy Russo doesn't remember his name, let alone his involvement," Swan sighs. "We must rely on recon and that Frank always gets his man."

"Speaking of," I bring up. "Dean Gordon is also back in the States."

"I'm well aware," Swan murmured. "His whereabouts have been murky, as well as his motives. Does his widow know? Lacey?"

"I'm not sure," I answered back. "But I intend to speak with her. She wrote the expose on Russo, along with a friend of hers. They might have the answers we need or know where to start looking."

"Let me know if there's anything you need to aid you in the investigation," Swan tells me. "We're already having to scrub the infestation in this department. I'd rather you work with a vigilante at this point."

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear that," I comment dryly.

I leave her office, already having decided to do things my way. Operating within the law didn't go my way the first time. But first, I planned to check in on Russo, because I'm gonna nail his ass to the wall!

I refuse to fucking believe that he lost his memories. He's a snake. A narcissistic, manipulative piece of shit who deserves every ounce of pain and suffering that Frank delivered to him! I'm going to make sure to be there when he slips up. Because he will...his handlers are on the run. He'll need a new plan, or he's using memory loss as a cover, and he knows where they are!

I get to the hospital, and he's confined to his bed. An odd mask was lying on his bedside table, and I admired Frank's handiwork...scars litter Billy's face, and I take grim satisfaction in them. He studies me clinically, playing his role.

"Do I know you?" He asks me.

"You know godamn well that you do!" I hissed. "You're not fooling anyone!"

"You've been here before," he murmured. "I was half asleep, but I saw you once before...what have I done to make you hate me?"

Wow. He's good. He almost had me...almost. I leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"You might have everyone else fooled but not me," I warn him. "You're going to mess up. People like you always do...and I'll ensure you get what you deserve!"

Confusion and fear lit those beady black eyes of his. He's committed to this. Fine. So am I! I leave it at that because his therapist arrives, and I've clarified my intent. I won't rest until I take him down!

When I was assigned to work with Billy Russo, I wasn't sure what I was in for. I've read about his involvement in war crimes and his role in the atrocities that Frank Castle had been put through, as well as the recent abductions of two reporters from The Bulletin...he'd be an interesting case study, as well...

Agent Dinah Madani was leaving in a huff as I entered his room. Great. I know she's upset him. She's been obsessed with him for some time now. He did awful things to her, but her delusions are just as dangerous as he used to be.

When Billy woke up, the poor man had a complete meltdown. He'd gone through countless surgeries, but he had been in a coma the entire time, I believe. It was the shock of not remembering what he had looked like and adjusting to his scars.

I saw a part of him that may have been hidden beneath the perfectly coiffed hair, elegant suits, and charm from his former life...sometimes it took a traumatic event to access pieces of ourselves that we've lost.

I remember him telling me,

"This face... has everything I ever did wrong written all over it. And when I look in the mirror, I want to see...I want to see the best version of myself again."

Because of Madani, he gleaned that he must have done awful things, but I wouldn't allow him to read about it. I've had to calm him down often when he asked about it. I knew I couldn't shelter him much longer, but I needed to look out for him. People were out to destroy a man who didn't even remember why they wanted to. Also, remembering what he'd done wouldn't necessarily mean that he'd revert to the monster he had been.

When I get inside, he's muttering to himself. I call his name, and he turns to me with tears glittering in his eyes. I cursed Madani. Her obsession is messing with his treatment. I may need to go above her head on this one...that would wipe the smug little smirk off her face...but for now, I need to focus on him.

"Why does she hate me?" He asks. "What did I do?"

"Don't work yourself up about that right now," I tell him gently. "Okay?"

"Okay," he echoes softly.

"How have you been sleeping?" I ask him.

"I'm still having these nightmares," he mutters.

"The bloody skull?" I ask him.

"...I wish I knew what it meant," he sighs.

I knew what it meant, but I wouldn't tell him. It was a repressed memory of his attack at the hands of Frank Castle. But I'm not going to tell him that. I'm not here to force him to remember. Everyone else wants that, but it's not best for him. I'm here to nurture his mental and emotional health. I'm not here to feed their hatred.

Regardless of what he's done, there can't be any hope of rehabilitation if he doesn't feel remorse and is forced to relive what he's done instead of why, and that's what I'm going to do. Unfortunately, I don't have the authority to ban Madani from seeing him, but maybe I can get through to her. She's not exactly in a healthy state of mind herself, but I often wonder: Is Billy merely pretending to have amnesia?

At some point during the night, Lacey had fallen asleep. We tucked her into bed, and when we did, she said Frank's name in her sleep. I knew he had something important to do, but it was sweet that she had tried to wait up for him. The stress and alcohol had been too much for her tonight.

"When it's all over, do you think they'll stop lying to one another?" Erykah wonders.

"I honestly don't know," I replied. "They're both stubborn, but there's more to it than that. They don't think they deserve to be happy."

"If there are two people who deserve it, it's them," Erykah declares. "But I have a sick feeling that Dean will try to mess that up."

"I don't trust him," I admit. "Something about how he pops back into her life...as she's alone with Frank? Why not earlier, when she was being attacked in broad daylight?"

"Do you think he's been watching her?" Erykah asks angrily.

"Only one way to find out!" I decide, as I call my husband.

"Is everything alright?" He answers on the first ring.

"We're fine," I assure him. "Lacey tried waiting for Frank, but she's passed out."

"Yeah, he seems eager to get back to her," he admits. "So what's up? What's going on?"

"We think Dean has been following Lacey," I confide. "He showed himself when she and Frank were about to, well-"

"And he could have shown up at any time," he murmurs.

"Exactly," I finish his thought. "I think he's hoping to get Lacey back, or maybe he's playing games."

"Frank has him tied up; if he's hiding anything, we'll find out." David chuckles darkly.

"Good," I find myself saying. "Because I don't like this. I don't like what this is doing to Lacey, and I don't trust him."

"I'm inclined to believe that Frank sees this the same way," he mutters. "I'll relay the message, alright? I love you."

"I love you, too, also...did you see the news? About Billy Russo?" I asked.

"Yeah, and he's gonna kill him. Regardless. You know that," he informs me.

"I'm not feeling particularly sympathetic towards him," I admit.

"Neither am I," he agrees. "But we'll have eyes on him, too."

The conversation segues into our daily affairs and updates on the kids who were away for the summer before I hung up. Erykah had gotten into bed with Lacey. I decided to do the same so that when our men came home, we would be in one spot. Not only that but I was exhausted as well.

"I wasn't given a choice back then," I told Frank. "Gunner showed me the footage, so I did some digging...after they pulled you off of Rawlins, I confronted him in the med tent. I don't know what I was thinking. Between that and your attack, I hoped he'd end this...but he knew I was onto him. He had someone watching her back home. He showed me these photos of her...I had a decision to make. I took off. I snuck out of the country, and I killed the man who had been stalking her, then I trained her...but I didn't want to bring this to our front door. I left..."

"Your plan didn't work," Micro scoffed. "She was your wife. Did you think it would be over just because you left? Oh, she can shoot a gun and fight; she's fine! Nah. You were her husband! You weren't thinking about her; you were thinking about yourself!"

"Is that what you told yourself when you faked your death?" I toss at him. "Are you, of all people, going to sit here and lecture me on the importance of honesty in a marriage after what you've done? We've all been fighting the same fight! Instead of holding me here, we must go after them!"

"Nah, I don't trust you," Frank decided. "How do we know they haven't gotten to you, too? You still left her. At the end of the GODDAMN DAY, you chose to look out for yourself!"

"...So that's what this is about?" I asked, chuckling darkly. "This isn't so much about why I left, but who I left. I saw the two of you before she saw me...you're in love with my wi-"

A blow to the face cut me off. I wasn't phased because I had my answer. Micro hung up his phone, and he joined Frank in my interrogation.

"Yeah, about that..." He pipes up. "Something about how you showed up doesn't sit right with me. How long have you been watching her? And why wait until she was ready to move on to show up?"

"The only reason she thinks she needs to move on is that I made a foolish mistake," I scoffed. "To quote you, At the end of the day, she's my wife. And while I deal with these assholes, I'll be doing whatever I need to...to get her back!"

I revealed that I'd escaped the cuffs.

"You done?" I asked. "You seem to forget that the same people trained us. Erykah took me by surprise while I was dealing with you. I'll give her that, but if you think I'm going to stand by while you take down Cerebus with my wife-"

"-You sure as hell weren't so concerned about her being your wife when you left! You can't possibly be naive enough to believe that she'll forgive you," Frank scoffs. "If you're gonna look at yourself, really look in the mirror, you gotta admit who you are. But not just to yourself; you gotta admit it to everybody else. You were fine with keeping your distance while she was fixated on you."

"You don't know a godamn thing about me," I insisted. "Unlike you, I was able to keep my family safe! What makes you think you're any good for Lacey?!"

Noah and Micro intervened before Frank could attack me. I snort in derision as I get up from the chair.

"The only reason you don't trust me is that I'm a threat to whatever you think you have with her," I continue. "Do you honestly believe that she'll want a life of instability? Constantly looking over her shoulder?"

"As opposed to what you've brought to her front door?" Frank snapped. "How closely were you watching her, anyway? You realize she had a fucking breakdown, don't you? She was spiraling, especially after she l-"

He froze as if he was about to reveal something that he shouldn't have.

"After she what? What happened?" I asked, animosity forgotten.

"It's not my story to tell," he says fiercely.

"We don't have time for this," Micro sighs. "Russo is awake. We don't know if his amnesia is real. We have no leads on the rest of Cerebus. We've broken the story, but we've got to end this-"

"-We've got to end them-" Frank cuts in.

"-before they move on and do this elsewhere," Micro continues. "I've caught some chatter. They plan to set up shop again but move on before I get a bead on them."

"Who would be dumb enough to work for them after Cerebus went public?" Noah asked.

"You'd be surprised," I interrupt. "They even managed to turn Frank's best friend against him and his country!"