Chapter 1
Frank tried to stay as far away as possible from the boy but it seemed like the world had other plans for him, since it kept dragging him towards the kid.
The moment they met was the exact moment Frank knew it'd be a bad idea to get involved with Peter. He was staying in Queens for a while, following the lead of a gang he'd been tracking for months. One night he was beating the hell out of some lowlife to get information when someone kicked him out of nowhere and left him confused for a brief moment, long enough for the criminal to start running but not enough for him to elude the bullet that the vigilante put right into the back of his head. Frank turned quickly, pointing the gun at the fucker who dared to mess with his mission, ready to shoot right in the face when a young voice came out of the silhouette.
"The Punisher?" Hold a damn second.
"Spider-Man? What the hell you think you're doing?" Great, that was exactly what he needed, another clever boy trying to lecture him on how killing was bad and unnecessary and blah, blah, blah.
"I- I'm sorry, I just- my spidey senses were tickling and then i heard that man screaming and I- and I thought, I thought he was getting robbed or something and..."
"For fuck's sake, just get outta here man". They were letting literal children fight crime now? He couldn't have been more than 18 or so, no one's supposed to be at the end of a gun barrel at that age. Goddamn, the world was really going to shit.
Frank had expected, hoped, to not run into the kid again but apparently he wasn't so lucky. It seemed like the little asshole didn't know how to stay out of trouble, the older man found out, the hard way. Peter started showing up, more often than not, to help him in fights (not like he needed it), almost as if he was stalking him. The marine could manage alone against dozens of men but the kid apparently enjoyed fighting by his side and also wasn't saying a thing, just taking down as many men as he could.
One time, Frank wasn't exactly in a good mood when he felt someone sneaking around on the rooftop he was in.
"Listen, kid, i don't need a fucking sidekick, just go rescue kittens from the trees or whatever"
"I don't rescue kittens, well, I do but I also fight crime"
"You should be fighting your homework"
"Why are you so pressed about my age, do you think that because i'm young i'm stupid?"
Frank turned around to face the boy and looked at him dead in the eye "I believe you have a whole life yet to live and you shouldn't be risking it like this"
"I already lost everything that mattered, I don't care if I die anymore"
Frank didn't know how to react "That's not…"
"GET DOWN!" Peter jumped over the older man, taking him to the ground as bullets started to pour from the building across the street. It was safe to bet that the gang Frank was watching saw them and opened fire.
When Frank finally tried to sit up, a weight over his back pinned him down, a dead weight. That couldn't be really happening.
He used all his strength to push away the body on top of him, with his heart hammering inside his chest, it took even more strength to look at the boy lying in a pool of his own blood, barely breathing. Memories started flashing in Frank's mind, young men getting blown to pieces, Curtis losing his leg, people he was supposed to protect but couldn't save. He held the lax body and promised silently that he would keep that guy alive at any cost. Those bullets were meant for the punisher and an innocent soul had taken them, that was something a marine would never let slide past.
"Hold on kiddo, I got you, it's gonna be alright". He picked Peter off the floor and carried him to his safe house.
Bad decision number one.
When they arrived at the safe house, Frank peeled off the kid's suit and took off his mask to take care of his wounds, revealing a very young looking brunette with curly hair and pale skin, who looked like he just got out of a renaissance painting. He seemed so pure in his unconsciousness, painting a picture of innocence, even though that, the once innocent boy was gone long ago now.
Three days later Frank was sitting on his couch trying to avoid the thought of the kid not waking up ever again when he heard a soft whimper coming from the bedroom, he rushed inside and pushed Peter's shoulders gently to make him lay on the pillows again.
"Easy, tiger, you're a goddamn strainer right now so I wouldn't move too much if I were you".
The memories came back to the boy's head.
"where am I? Where's my suit?" He'd have to get over the fact that the marine knew his identity now.
"Well, you're in my safehouse and I had to take your suit off to patch you up, you may want to get a new one 'cause that one ended up with a couple holes in it"
Peter tried to find something to say but suddenly he was exhausted and fell back into a peaceful sleep.
Frank never thought he would be babysitting a kid who was unconscious most of the time but there he was, making some eggs for a curly haired boy who still felt dazed from the 17 hours long nap he just woke up from.
"So, are you ever gonna tell me why you keep following me 'round?"
The man plated up the food and headed towards the kitchen table where Peter was sitting, with his hair all messed up and wearing a shirt way too big for him.
"Thought you could use some help" he shrugged but Frank wasn't buying it
"you know damn well i could kill a whole army on my own"
An audible eye rolling came from the younger man.
"That's the whole point, you shouldn't be killing people, i was trying to save as many of them as i could" fucking moron.
"Are you related to daredevil? Just wondering" the joke didn't land.
"I wasn't even getting in your way. You know, deep inside, that i'm right and that's why you let me do it"
all this chatter wasn't going anywhere and it would do no good for any of them.
"I gotta admit that you're one tough mutherfucker, you took five bullets and still find the strength to be a pain in my ass" then he just walked away to the kitchen clearly ending the conversation right there.
The days passed and, weirdly, they got along well, although they really didn't talk a lot and there was a space between them. They parted the house tasks and it established a routine that was comforting for both. For Frank it was actually refreshing to have someone being around all the time, he wouldn't admit it but he enjoyed Peter's presence. Still, the kid didn't look entirely okay.
There was something off about nobody reporting a lost boy, he'd been staying with Frank for a week now and he didn't even have a phone. Did he have a house at least?
"Hey kid, you got a family? A girlfriend? Anyone you wanna call to let them know that you're okay?"
The boy glared at him for a moment, his eyes enlightened with something deep and dark, a look that the marine knew too well, a look that he'd had seen in the mirror many times.
"No, I got no one"
They fell into a thoughtful silence.
The kid was alone just like himself, that was probably why he kept orbiting around him. Sometimes one can find comfort in people who went through similar experiences but Frank was everything except comforting, nothing good comes out of someone who only knows about death and revenge, he didn't know how to handle another person's grief much less when said person was a kid.