Berlin, Germany
Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
1:11 p.m.
The three ponies slowly pushed the door open, peaking inside the temporary medical room. Lying in rows, groaning in pain as doctors and soldiers tended to them were the men and women James Barnes had injured during his escape. People hustled and bustled about, checking heart rates, treating wounds, and healing wounded soldiers.
No one really cared for them as much, the ponies, that is. So, Starlight, Applejack, and Rarity quickly strolled inside, limping due to their own injuries. The three minded the strewn about limbs and people moving in and out of the room. Other than that, it was relatively peaceful, aside from the armed guards standing by the door at the end of the room.
Exactly where the girls wanted to go.
The three stopped just in front of the doorway. The two guards sent them a wavering glance, but they stood their ground, gripping their rifles and refusing to move. That is, until, the pink unicorn said, “Everett Ross gave us clearance. I’m sure he contacted both of you, correct?”
They looked as if they didn’t want to be told otherwise, but they nodded and moved aside, opening the door for the three mares. Starlight lead the two into the dark room, Rarity smiling gratefully to the two men. However, her smile disappeared the moment he shut the door right behind her, a soft click heard on the other side.
Though somewhat concerned on that, Rarity turned back to the room she was in and tried to focus. After all, it wasn’t that bad. It was just being locked in a room… a very dark room… with the shooter. And a doctor with an armed guard. Thank Celestia.
Noticing the three ponies come inside, the doctor turned back to his clipboard, the X-rays clipped on it. He shook his head over and over again. “This is very interesting,” he muttered to himself, pacing at the end of the bed. “Very, very interesting.”
“What do you mean by that, doctor?”
Looking back up, the man adjusted his glasses and smiled to the young ponies. “Ah,” he said, his voice heavy with a thick, German accent, “you must be Starlight Glimmer. Ross informed me you and your friends would be paying our patient here a visit.”
“An’ an official evaluation,” Applejack drawled.
Nodding, the doctor continued. “Anyway, I was just taking a quick look at these X-rays, and they are unlike anything I have come across. See here,” he bent down to allow Starlight, Rarity, and Applejack a quick peek at the photographs. “We shot a couple X-rays on his skull, where the bar had hit naturally, and we came across these fractures, you see. It appears our shooter has been shot himself.”
“In the head?” Starlight gasped.
The doctor nodded, pulling back the clipboard to study it further. “It is very peculiar. Never in my career have I come across a patient who has survived a bullet to the head. But as for now…” he mumbled, turning back to cast one last glance at the bed, “… he’ll be fine. He’s just resting.”
Following the doctor’s fading eyesight, the mares cast their gazes to the bed and the shooter that rested upon it. Aside from the bloody bandage wrapped tightly across his forehead, he looked to be in stable condition. The mares, however, found themselves cowering away once his blood-cooling glare turned their way, shifting back to the armed guard shortly after.
Noticing this, Starlight tapped the doctor’s knee. “Excuse me, but could we get a few minutes alone with him please, so we can begin the evaluation?”
He paused shortly, turning to his assigned guard, who made no comment. Sighing heavily, the doctor pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I suppose so,” he said. “We will be outside in case you need us. Come now!”
The last command was in German, to which the guard followed without question. Starlight, Applejack, and Rarity all watched as one of their only means of defense knocked twice, stepped outside, and closed the door behind him, the inevitable click following. Rarity silently gulped, the reality of the situation setting in once again.
Trapped inside a small medical room… with very poor lighting… and the shooter himself, Frank Castle.
Once the door had closed, the silence set in. The very few light bulbs gave light primarily to the bed, the bathroom, the door, and that was it. The soft, rhythmic beat of the heart rate monitor gave little to the mood, the three ponies standing in the darkness while Castle was enveloped under the light bulb's haunting, yellow glow. Once the three cautiously stepped forward, Castle trained his stone-like glare onto them, causing them to halt halfway.
Under the light, the three mares were given stunning detail of Frank Castle’s facial features. His grizzled chin and cheeks held a disorderly scruff, his neck veins practically pulsating. His large ears and nose were the least noticeable, and besides the bloody bandage across his forehead and trimmed, black hair, his eyes captured the ponies’ attention.
At first it wasn’t much, but the longer he held that glare the quicker each of the mares were to back away. They could see the blank colors in his irises, the whites fractured with red veins. In that blankness of color, of emotion and feeling, the ponies could barely make out what they saw. It wasn’t strength, or the added bit of intimidation that he already layered pretty thick. It was…
Something. Applejack and Rarity didn’t know what to make of it. Starlight shared the same boat as them, if not a tad more concerned than they were. But, other than that, the ponies held their ground, the soft beeping filling the silence before the inevitable clearing of the throat. Castle turned away.
After succeeding in clearing her throat, Starlight said, “Frank Castle, my name is Starlight Glimmer. These are my friends, Applejack and Rarity. Twilight and Everett Ross thought it would be best if we tried to evaluate you, seeing as everyone else… well… gave up.”
He didn’t turn to them.
Unaffected, Starlight raised her hoof and admitted, “Okay, it was mostly Twilight’s idea, but Ross still agreed to it.”
“Barely,” Applejack added.
Starlight nodded, her eyes dipping to the floor. “Barely,” she sighed.
Castle remained silent on the other end of the conversation. Picking herself up shortly afterwards, Starlight offered a short smile before asking, “So, I guess we can begin with a question: Why did you do what you did not too long ago, the shooting and the attempted assault on James Barnes?”
Finally, after nearly ten seconds of nothing but silence, Frank turned back to them. He said nothing, but offered his signature glare, a clear sign that meant “get the hell away from me”.
Starlight obliged, taking a step back. Smiling nervously, she cleared her throat once again, saying, “Maybe we should start from the beginning. What drove you to take on the Winter Soldier outside of the law?”
A cold, cold silence was their only response.
Applejack stepped forward. “What does he even mean to ya?”
Castle glared at her, but said nothing.
It was Rarity’s turn to receive Castle’s glare once she stepped closer to the bedside. “We just want to help you, Mr. Castle,” she said, gently placing her hoof on the sheets. “We can’t unless you’re willing.”
At last, he spoke, but it was so sudden that it caused Rarity to flinch back, her hoof recoiling. “First of all, get your hoof away from me. Second, plenty of other people tried exactly what you’re trying to do, people bigger, stronger, more confident. You really think this little innocent act is gonna get me to talk?”
Having regarded herself to be in a safe distance, Rarity huffed, planting her hoof on the solid ground. “All right, fine. Why did you attack the Winter Soldier?”
“That ain’t your concern, is it?”
“Where did you get your military-grade weapons?” Starlight prompted.
“Up your ass.”
Gasping in disgust at such vulgarity, Rarity lifted up her nose and strode off back with her friends. The three lowered their heads, swarmed in a small circle and began to whisper to one another. Applejack was the first, saying, “Well, this got us plum nowhere.”
“At least he’s talking,” Starlight offered, earning a huff from Rarity.
“Yeah, but he ain’t sayin’ what we want ‘im to,” Applejack said, sighing quietly. “Let’s face it. We shoulda known this was gonna get us nowhere. He even said it himself, plenty o’ others did exactly what we did, and none of ‘em saw it ta the end.”
“Shouldn’t we at least try again?” Starlight asked, turning to Rarity.
Rarity shook her head, blowing a strand of loose mane from her vision. “It’s been a very, very long, painful, and tedious day. I don’t want to waste another second with this thick-headed, gutter-mouth brute! I say we call it a day, darlings. If you need me, I’ll be with Natasha.”
And with that, Applejack and Starlight watched Rarity break away from their circle and knock twice on the door, to which it opened and allowed her through. Applejack cast Starlight one last glance for the day before sighing and making her way into the brightly-lit hallways. Too soon, it was just Starlight trapped behind the closing door, the darkness surrounding her, the light on her back.
As well as a certain pair of damaged eyes.
Closing her eyes, Starlight breathed in, counted to two, and breathed out. Classic Twilight exercise for calming your nerves. Worked every time. With her eyes still closed, Starlight thought back to the words Castle had given her, his attitude, and how she was going to slip through. First of all, Castle was as real as real gets. He was blunt and to the point, not wasting time and definitely not wasting his own. She had to keep him focused, give him something that wasn’t considered a waste to him.
Though she rarely did it, Starlight allowed herself this one time… to stoop to his level. “All right, Frank, you want me to stop acting so innocent,” she said, opening her eyes and spinning around. Castle barely acknowledged her existence, which was all he was going to do until she left. She quickly added, “Fine, I’ll cut the bullshit.”
Now, he looked somewhat interested.
She also didn’t back down from his glare anymore, and instead took a small but powerful step closer to his bedside with every other word emphasized. “We did some research, so there’s no hiding for you anymore, Frank. The Punisher. Killed nearly the entire Irish Mob in Hell’s Kitchen, several other homicides across Europe and the United States, all confirmed HYDRA war criminals and Soviet spies. Hm, didn’t stop you from putting a bullet between the eyes of a senile, old man.”
“Doesn’t matter how he looked. He was a criminal, and I put him down,” Castle replied, his voice hoarse.
Starlight continued, unscathed by his comeback. “You served in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, put under the command of Colonel Ray Schoonover and took part in the Battle of Fallujah. You earned the title of Scout Sniper and concluded your time in the Marine Corps, finally returning home. Is that correct?”
Castle didn’t answer. What she said next, however, made his blood boil, his fists tightening underneath his bed sheets.
“You took your wife, son, and daughter to Central Park in New York City where you were all caught in a three-way mob fight! Your family was killed and you saw it to be your responsibility to brutally murder each and every member of those mobs that were involved!” Starlight now stood on his right, directly by his bedside, unmoved and unafraid. She leaned in, narrowed her eyes, and glared right into Castle’s own. “Is that correct?”
Castle just scoffed, blowing air into her face. “Yeah, why do you keep asking? You know, they know, the whole goddamn world might as well know!” he quickly snapped, causing Starlight to lean back only slightly. After a short bit of commotion from beyond the door, followed by Starlight calling out to them in assurance of her situation, Castle continued.
“I couldn’t care less what any of you little shits think of me, or what any of them think of me,” he told her, earning a growing frown from the unicorn. “The truth of the matter is that I’ll be out of here by the end of the night, out of your hair so you can all get back to your little goose chase.”
It was Starlight’s turn to scoff, only infuriating Frank even more. “You really think they’re gonna let you go, after what you did?”
“No, I don’t. But that’s not gonna stop me.”
“It won’t stop you, but it’ll kill you,” Starlight told him, watching as he looked away and cursed under his breath. It was a word even she wouldn’t dare to use. “You’re just a man, Frank, and in your condition, you can’t expect to just walk out of here without getting shot.”
He turned back to her, and with a tone so, so low, growled, “Watch me.”
“I don’t want to. I don’t want to watch you die, because I know you will if you try and run.” Starlight looked away, bit her lip, then sighed. She faced him again, into those flaming eyes of his, and tried to say, “They want to put you behind bars, Frank—”
“Hasn’t stopped me before.”
“But I don’t believe you should,” she finished.
She sat down on his bedside, and for the life of him, Castle didn’t know why he didn’t say anything to that. Starlight, as well. He nearly threatened Rarity’s life just by laying her hoof on his sheets, and there she was sitting down, staring at him expectantly, the man not saying a word. Little less than ten minutes with these ponies and Frank was already feeling weaker. Christ.
After realizing he wasn’t going to do anything to her, Starlight let loose the nervous chill she had been keeping held within her. She looked down to her hooves, and very quietly said, “I was taught… a while ago… that everypony deserves another chance, whether that be at life, at redemption, but for you… I’d say it’s a choice, because I don’t see you redeeming yourself anytime soon.”
He was caught between a cough and a chuckle. “Yeah, at least you get it.”
Looking to the mare on his bed, Castle asked, “What about Barnes?” She looked back to him, away from her hooves into the eyes. “You think he needs a chance like those other yahoos?”
She felt the shock of Barnes’ fist against the side of her face come reeling back to her, her hoof instinctively rising to caress the bruise. “I would… I would like to believe that. But if we don’t bring him in and give him the help he deserves, if he doesn’t pay for his crimes, then we’ve not only failed ourselves, but Barnes, as well.”
To her surprise, Castle actually chuckled. For real, this time. “That’s not how it goes, little lady.”
Taken aback, Starlight raised a curious brow and asked, “What are you talking about?”
And just like that, she let him loose. “People like Barnes, like him. Murderer. Killer. A weapon used to assassinate, destroy, and destabilize. If we don’t bring him down, all those people he killed would have died in vain. I had the chance to do it, you see?” he told her, holding out his left hand to the pony and pointing right at her. “I could’ve brought that scum down right then and there and I didn’t! You see what happens next? He breaks out, hurts all these good people just doing their jobs, busts my head in and gets a few good shots at you and your friends!”
He leaned forward, the bed springs creaking beneath him. Starlight could practically feel the man’s heat just from his breath alone, the passion and fury in his voice when he said, “All because we didn’t kill that murderer.”
“And what if you had done so?” Starlight quickly fired back. “How would you be any different from him, Frank?”
“Because I kill those who need to die, criminals who infect this world who’ll just keep breaking out and killing and raping and stealing again and again and again and again unless you put a bullet between their eyes and end who they are what they do. Barnes is just like all the others, just as unstable and dangerous. You let me go, you lock me up, I’ll get out and I won’t rest, I won’t stop until I see the Winter Soldier dead at my feet.”
He was breathing rather heavily, rather loudly. And Starlight only nodded. Very slowly.
“Well, you’re right about one thing: The Winter Soldier is unstable,” she told him, earning what appeared to be a sneer from him. “You, however, Frank, aren’t.” His eyebrows twitched, which was the closest thing she thought she got from him that appeared to be legitimate surprise. “You seem to be a reasonable man, a reasonable husband and father. You can stop Barnes without having to kill him. Fighting fire with fire only creates a bigger fire, Frank. We can stop Barnes, and I think we can use your help in doing so, but they need a reason to trust you.”
This time, Starlight leaned forward, and in those big eyes of hers, Castle could see his own reflection, the bloody bandage, the scars, the eyes, and all the rest. She said, “I need a reason to trust you.”
This technically wasn’t a first for Castle, but it was still odd just the same. Seeing someone actually want to help him, to see through the Punisher and actually stare at Frank Castle. The only other one who did that was…
He stared at his reflection in her eyes, and saw himself.
The Punisher.
“Trust,” he coughed. “You think you can trust a man who got his little girl killed the day after he got back half the world away from her? Huh? You think you can, but you can’t. You never will. And I’m damn fine with that. Because I lost everything thanks to those criminals, thugs, and monsters who couldn’t give less of a shit about innocent people getting caught in the crossfire.”
Starlight leaned back.
“I have to put ‘em all down, you see? Every single one of them. Because the way I see it, Barnes is no better than the scum who murdered my family. None of ‘em are. So, when you let me go, when you lock me up, when you think you’ve got a chain wrapped around me, I’ll bite through it and kill the man who doesn’t deserve another chance. It was business before, but after this,” he pointed to his forehead, to the bloody bandage, “now it’s personal.”
He laid down the law, the facts, his way of life of which there was no turning back. He could see the expression on her face appear somewhat lost, broken, as if she couldn’t formulate a response or refused to do so. It was typical. No one saw his life like he did, and all those who tried to tell him otherwise could lick the underside of his—
“No.”
Castle made no attempt to move. He just sat there, staring at her, daring her to continue to talk.
“I don’t want them to lock you up, Frank, and you don’t want that either. It would mean losing time, time you clearly don’t have, and time we’re desperately running out of.” Frank snorted at that, tightening his fists underneath the sheets. She scooted closer, whispering rather loudly, “I can let you go, I can convince them that you’re not a threat and that you’re willing to help us, willing to stop Barnes and bring him to justice.”
She emphasized those last four words rather heavily. Castle glared at her, she glared right on back, this time jabbing her hoof right into his chest, as if she struck Death right then and there.
“No killing,” she firmly stated. “He hasn’t hurt you the way those thugs and mobsters hurt you. Barnes didn’t kill your family, and the only way I’m going to convince those people outside ready to take you away to a high-security prison otherwise… is if you promise me… that you won’t kill him.”
Normally, anyone stupid enough to jab him in the chest would get the lights knocked out of them and find themselves lying in their own blood. But for some godforsaken reason, Castle didn’t even move. He didn’t even respond. All he really did, all he really could do, was stare at her. Into those big, desperate eyes of someone wanting to save another’s life.
“Please…” Starlight whispered, “give me a reason to trust you… so I can give them a reason.”
A reason to trust him? By Castle’s standards, that wasn’t feasibly possible. He’d let down everyone close to him, lost everything he possibly could. They should know, they said they did plenty of research. They’ve seen his confirmed kills, all those people Castle put down, and this one pony wanted to give him a chance, actually wanted to trust him. He played with his fingers beneath the sheets, thinking of his circumstances.
If he denied her yet again, they’d no doubt take him away to some German prison, much different from the ones in the United States. They’d keep an eye on him 24/7, never looking away and having those cameras constantly on top of him. He’d be trapped for God knows how long, and every second he would be wishing he had taken her deal. At least then he would have been free.
If he gave in, he could be that much closer to Barnes.
He didn’t think long on it.
“Fine,” he basically spat at her, earning a relieved smile from the unicorn. “But I’m leaving your little posse bullshit the second Barnes is brought in.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Starlight said, grinning and hopping off his bed. “I’ll be waiting outside when you’re ready.”
With that, Castle watched as she crossed the room and stopped by the door. Knocking two times, the door clicked open for her. Just before she could enter the light, she stopped and turned back. “And Frank…” her voice called out, earning Castle’s attention. “Thank you. You won’t regret this.”
As she closed the door, Frank Castle smiled, chuckling very, very quietly to himself. Beneath the sheet covers, he gripped his short combat knife just a little tighter. “I know I won’t.”