Back again
He is inside a tattoo parlor. There is a television in the corner where Karen's desk should be. Chairs with a young man staring at him.
What happened? Did he pass out?
Where's Matt? Karen?
He is standing staring at a young man who has his cellphone out.
Is he going to call the police?
Should he call the police?
This feels like something devil related. But Matt stopped. He promised.
(His promises mean little nowadays.)
"Who are you?"
He settles on that because God knows he knows nothing.
The guy doesn't answer. Maybe too stunned to actually speak.
The honking outside catches their attention. Both rush to the window, just to find people standing in the middle of the streets. Some shout names others, like him, ask questions.
It's definitely loud.
"Where am I?"
This is his office. This is their office. This guy seems just as confused.
"This is my shop. How did you get in here?"
"I was here just a second ago. This is my office."
"I bought the place. Got the papers and everything. You appeared out of nowhere."
"We never sold the office."
No matter how hard it got, the office was theirs. He fought tooth and nail to keep it. Even when his partner disappeared.
"I bought it over a year ago buddy."
"What?"
That doesn't match up. The desks were there just a few seconds ago. His cases, his phone, his laptop, his cup of coffee. Everything was here just a few minutes ago.
"I've been here for a year. You appeared out of nowhere. Who are you?"
I'm the rightful owner of this place.
He is about to fight when a woman slams the door open. She is the employee of a travelling agency two floors from them.
"Foggy? Is that you?"
He smiles and extends his arms. He made friends around the building by helping with little things here and there. The kept him company when the silence became too much.
They had to get their clients from somewhere.
"Yeah Angie. It's me."
Her eyes are blown wide open. They might even be a little watery.
"Hey Angie, do you know what is happening? Have you seen Karen? And can you please explain him that this is my office?"
There is silence while she processes the information.
"I- this is his shop Foggy. For a year now."
"Excuse me?"
"You died. Five years ago. I was at your funeral."
Lie. That can't be true. He is here. He is talking with them, isn't he? He is here in his office and Karen will come in with coffee for everyone and Matt will come in without bruises and they'll chat.
The tattoo thing is just a joke. Angie is messing with him.
"What date is it?"
"Uh. June 10th of 2018."
"That was five years ago."
The man pipes in. He isn't looking at them. The phone rings and he steps out to take the call.
"Look Fog-"
"Karen? What about Karen?"
There is no answer. Just the nervous shifting of hands and clothes. He tries to get his phone. He doesn't find one.
This isn't going anywhere.
"Thanks Angie. Thanks. I'll go search for her."
Before she can stop him, he brushes past her and slips to the streets.
He sees people walking around panicking. Cars have to stop to not run over the people who stand in the middle of the way.
"Foggy!"
Karen. That is Karen.
They don't hug. They saw each other just ten minutes ago. They don't need to hug.
They didn't die.
"Karen! Thank goodness. Do you know what is happening?"
"I asked a few people. They were just as confused. And the caffe wasn't there. The barista was but the store was all different"
They start walking to who knows where.
"What about you Foggy?"
"I was in the office. But you are right. It was all different. It was a tattoo parlor for goodness sake. I don't know Karen. Even the streets look different."
It was true. It isn't too obvious but the harder you looks the more different it looks. There are stores were there shouldn't be. New restaurants. Places just gone.
"You remember Angie, right? She said I died. Even after I talked to her yesterday."
Karen glances at him.
"Maybe the news know something Foggy. And at the very least we are not the only ones lost."
Countless people gather infront of a tv. They join them.
"Urgent news!! People are magically appearing on the streets claiming that they have always been there. The streets and hospitals are on chaos. The daily news already send our best reporters to the scene to inform all of you, our faithful viewers!
Not even the news seem to know. Another reporter enters the screen.
"This is strangely similar, isn't Amanda? Five years ago half the worlds population disappeared out of nowhere and now people just appear out of the blue?
"It is strange. Do you think it has something to do with the remaining avengers?
"Who knows. They haven't declared anything yet. Besides the team was disbanded. Even if this was and still is their fault, they already declared what they had to declare."
"True. Though everyone is already speculating."
"People always specialt-
He stops listening.
How can they not speculate? They've, supposedly, been dead for five years.
He has been dead. Karen has been dead. Matt-
Wait.
Matt.
What about Matt? Did he disappear too?
Did they leave him behind?
Karen seems to catch his thoughts.
"I take it that he wasn't with you in the office."
"No he. No. I was with another guy. But not Matt."
Not to mention the office wasn't theirs anymore. Nothing was the same.
"Do you have you phone?"
"No. I left it in my desk."
"Me too."
The desk wasn't there anymore.
What about their homes? What happened to them? Their things. Angela mentioned a funeral. Do they have tombstones?
Matt.
Where's Matt? Did he have to go through it alone? Did daredevil come back?
It leaves a bad taste in his mouth to know that Matt heard them disappear. That he heard all the hearts just disappear.
He tries to brush off the dust clinging to his clothes.
"Let's go to his apartment Foggy. He might be there."
He needs to find Matt. He needs to call his family. He needs to see what he has left after five years gone.
Five years.
Fuck.
They walk. Muscle memory taking them through the slightly changed streets. People just stay on the sidewalk. He wonders how many of them no longer know where to go.
Matt's building still stands. Just as it was the last time Foggy saw it.
When they get to the floor of Matt's apartment, they expect Matt to come out. He must've heard their heartbeats.
He didn't expect to see Frank, the fucking Punisher, Castle to be coming out.
Frank Castle.
Walking out of Matt's apartment.
Karen doesn't freeze. He does. Because this is a serial killer walking out of his friend's apartment.
(Not best friend. He needs some time for that. He needs to know he isn't the only one keeping this relationship alive.)
Castle freezes. Like when you see a ghost.
He has some jeans and a simple T-shirt. His hair is just as short as it was on trial but he has a beard. Well trimmed. It does a good job to disguise his face. There are some scars around his face but they seem well healed. There are more years in his face. Not too visible but still recognizable.
The silence is so loud.
He frowns, twists his mouth and squints his eyes.
"Karen?"
"Frank. How have you been?"
Frank tilts his head.
"You died."
"I'm right here."
He looks at them. There is a hesitance Foggy never expected from him.
(He somehow forgets that Karen was his friend. That he lost his family. That he is human too.)
He opens the door and talks without looking back.
"Come in."
Somehow looking at the house makes Foggy feel like he is overstepping.
It's full of plants. In pots around every corner. They are crowding the huge windows Matt has. There is a coat hanger with Matt's clothes. There is a pair of combat boots on the entrance.
"Take off your shoes when entering."
He has a bad feeling about this.
Once inside, he can see more and more things. Books some in braille and some printed. There is a tv in the living room. The kitchen is full of food.
This isn't the place he knew. It isn't barren. There are photos on the walls. Of Frank Castle with Matt. There are two small plates on the floor. Like there are pets.
Frank navigates the house with confidence.
He lives here.
"Karen. Yo-
Karen gets a step closer and hugs him.
"Yeah. I heard."
"Are you hurt?"
"No. We are fine."
Frank nods and turns to Foggy.
"Nelson."
"Castle."
They were never on talking terms.
"Do y'all want coffee?"
Karen is the one to answer.
"Thanks Frank."
They sit down on the sofa and wait. It feels like they shouldn't be here.
A dog enters the room just as Frank brings three cups.
The coffee is delicious. Matt must've picked it.
The dog smells them and starts following Frank. Castle scratches its head while staring at them.
"How have you been, Frank?"
"Well. It's been some years."
"Looks like it."
They don't talk. Not much. Even if Foggy has questions he can't bring himself to ask.
A cat comes out of nowhere and clings to Frank. He also scratches behind its ears. It purrs.
So the Punisher lives here and has two pets.
Good good.
Foggy totally doesn't want to bash his head into a wall.
"Matt is coming. He was at the office."
That brings his attention.
"I was at the office."
"Not that one. He got a new one. Closer and smaller."
"Ah"
He can't say more.
"You two seem close."
"You could say that. It's been five years."
He is starting to hate those five years.
Karen isn't looking at Frank. Rather she is looking at his hand. There is a ring there.
Foggy doesn't notice.
"You aren't running away? What about the police?"
"Frank Castle is dead for all they know. The name is Pete now."
"Nice name."
"So you are working. What are you doing?"
"I work at the animal refuge center down the street. They didn't ask too many questions."
"Well you do have a thing with animals."
It stays there.
The cling of keys and the door opening bring Foggy back from his stupor.
The cat raises its head, the dog stands up and rushes to the door.
Matt.
He has his cane and red glasses. He is using a white shirt and black pants with a brown trench coat over it. His hair is longer and his stubble is the same. There are scars that are fading away. There are five years under his belt and Foggy can see them. In the small wrinkles that weren't there before.
He holds himself differently. There is less pressure on his shoulders. He looks well put together.
He is pale and grabs his cane tightly. But he looks happy.
"Foggy."
His voice is the same. Because Foggy saw him just an hour ago. But it's been five years.
They hug.
Frank watches.
"God Foggy I- I don't I- I missed you so much."
Matt hugs him. Clings to him.
He hugs back.
"You just disappeared and you and Karen."
He turns to face Karen.
"Oh Karen."
Karen stands to join them.
"We are here Matt. We are here."
He rubs his eyes. There are less prominent eye bags.
"Are you injured?"
"No, Matt. We are fine."
Matt nods and squeezes his arm.
They sit back down.
Matt leans into Frank. Frank doesn't push him away.
Frank tilts his head.
"Up for some coffee?"
Matt rubs his eyes.
"I don't think I can keep it down."
Frank rubs his back. The cat nuzzles into Matt's lap.
"Did you have breakfast?"
"I did. Yesterday's leftovers."
Matt tilts his head towards them.
"How do both of you feel?"
"We are fine Matt. We feel perfectly fine."
Matt nods.
Foggy is convinced this is a fever dream. Matt with Castle? They have two pets? And it doesn't look like it's recent news.
"How are they called?"
Matt answers as Frank stands to answer his phone.
"The cat is Luca, the dog is Max."
"The cat loves you."
"It loves attention."
"Just like you."
Matt raises an eyebrow.
"I'm not wrong."
"Debatable."
"She is not wrong."
Frank comes in.
"Oh side with me."
"I side with the truth."
"Fuck you."
"Very convincing, definitely the best lawyer around."
"What can I say, I am the best at what I do."
Foggy can't intervene. He needs to ask Matt. What the hell happened in those five years? Better yet. Why Frank?
"I need to go. Micro is back and I should pay a visit. I'll be back for dinner. Do I bring take out?"
"Please."
"All right. See you."
"Take care."
Franks nods at Foggy, hugs Karen and kisses Matt on the cheek.
He walks out.
"The fuck Matt?"
"What?"
"Frank Castle. The Punisher. Really."
"Fog-
"No. Is this another Elektra Matt?"
That is a low blow. He knows that. But God knows he needs to ask.
Matt growls and that cat rubs into his leg.
"Don't go there, Foggy."
"Oh I have the right to ask. Because I know how these things go with you."
"You've been gone for five years, Foggy. Things change."
"You weren't the one to pick up the pieces, Matt. I know how love is with you."
Matt sighs and rubs his eyes. He didn't have that mannerism before.
"Foggy things change. I am not the same. Frank is not the same. You haven't seen our relationship. You've been dead for years."
That scares Foggy. The world moves and changes even if you die.
The world left him behind.
Karen is about to intervene when Matt starts talking.
"I don't blame you. I couldn't. Just… give it a chance. Please."
Karen grabs his shoulder and it hurts that it is this way.
"The office?"
Matt sighs.
"I sold it. It was hard to be in there. I kept the sign."
Frank told him before. Matt confirms it. It doesn't make it any less hard.
Karen intervenes.
"So, how are things with Frank?"
Matt starts scratching Max's head.
"We went for drinks a week after the incident. Kept in contact. Eventually someone pushed us into something official. We got married three years ago."
"You two make quite the combination."
"Yeah, we help each other. Both in and out of the suit."
The room drops.
"Suit?"
It is Foggy who asks. Karen just sighs.
Matt visibly prepares himself to give an answer. He squares his shoulders and forces his jaw to relax. His hand twitches probably with the urge to rub his eyes.
"When you dissapeared, Foggy, half of the city dissapeared with you. People were lost. Crime rose. I couldn't just turn a blind eye."
"The police-
"Foggy, the police dissapeared too. The avengers stepped down. Daredevil was needed. So I brought him back."
"You promised-
"And what did you want me to do? Ignore the cries for help? Just stand there and see the situation get worse? I couldn't Foggy. I'm not alone now. Frank comes with me and we help each other."
All three stay silent. There is a gap, huge, between the three.
Five years is a long time after all.
"Both of you can stay here while we make the arrangements for your home."
Matt makes a move to stand up.
"You should call your father. He missed you."
He wants to ask about his job. His home. His family. His funeral.
About what he has left.
Karen is looking at him.
"Matt, would you mind if we go with you to the office?"
Matt turns around and smiles at them. It's small and genuine. Foggy missed those smiles.
"Of course. After all, you have five years to catch up with."