A Deal With the Devil

16

“Sasha!” She whined loudly causing me to pull my phone away from my ear.

    “Damn girl, the hell are you yelling for?” 

    “I… I need to say something. Get it off my chest, yknow?” She slurred.

    I sighed and ran my hand down my face. She was drunk.
    “What is it?”

    “You promise not to be mad at me?” 

    “You haven’t said shit, bro. I cannot make any promises.”

    “Ok… but you gotta keep an open mind! This is serious.”

    I smiled and sandwiched the phone against my ear while slowly brushing my hair. It was always funny when she came to me about a crush, sober or not.

    “So,” she began. “You know that dude Frank right?”

    “Oh hell no bro.” I dropped the hairbrush and considered ending the call.

    “No wait! You said you’d be understanding!” She pleaded.
    I shook my head and began to laugh at the absurdity of what she just insinuated.

    “Let me clarify: Frank…Castle? The Punisher?”

    “Bro, let me defend myself!” She started to cry drunkenly.

    “There just ain’t no way bro. But explain yourself, sure.” I had a fit of laughter.

    “He’s just a good guy, ok?! And he’s sweet, funny, caring and stuff…” She sniffled. “He’s really brave too. He protects me, even in jail.” She started to giggle.

    I was howling at this point. 

    “No way bro, you want him to punish you for real!” I was crying and holding my stomach in pain.

    “Shut the fuck up! Forget I even called you.” She was an angry drunk now.

    “No, wait! I’m sorry bro. But you do realize what you’re saying, right?” I argued. “‘Kind’, ‘sweet’? Are we talking about the same guy?”

    “You don’t know him like I do.”

    “I literally work to defend him in court. Well, worked.” I sighed again.

    “But you wouldn’t understand. He’s so handsome too…” she giggled yet again. 

    “How about this: you call me again in the morning, if you remember to, and we can talk about him all you want. I have a… problem to wait for.” I got anxious thinking about Matt.

    “Hehe, you’re with Matt huh?”

    “Alright, bedtime Phoebe. Good night.”

    I heard her laughing as I ended the call.

    I smiled, put my phone down and checked the time. It was 2:13. I worried about Phoebe, she didn’t get drunk often. Frank’s demise may have been taking a bigger toll on her than I thought. If she didn’t call me in the morning, I’d call her. So many things to worry about. 

    I yawned and decided to take a quick nap before Matt got home. Just a little break.

—

    I woke back up at 3:47 to the sound of the roof door opening. Eyes squinted, I recognized the bloody limping mess of a man as my beloved.

    “I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” He softly spoke as he took his helmet off, walking over to me.

    “Shower.” I grumbled.

    He looked down and nodded, giving me one more glance.
    “Please.” I said, softer.

    He smiled. I didn’t even think of the horrors he’d probably witnessed tonight. He needs love when he comes home.

    I fell back asleep until I felt warm arms scoop me up from the couch and bring me to the soft silk sheets of his bed. 

    “Do you want to talk about tonight?”

    “In the morning, angel.” He wrapped an arm around me. 
    I felt safe. His heartbeat lulled me to sleep as the subtle sweet scent of his conditioner filled me with a sense of comfort. Slowly, I fell asleep as he did. 

—

“Thank you for coming.” Reyes sighed.

    I really thought she called us here to negotiate something to help her win the case, and Foggy thought it was to insult us. Matt didn’t know, but Karen was looking suspicious.

    Foggy scoffed.

“Kind of hard to say no when the cops pick you up.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that. Please, have a seat. Please.” She stammered.

Foggy cleared his throat and said what was on all our minds.

“I don't know what your play is, lady, but let's cut the shit. You brought us in expecting to sweat privileged information about our client out of us.”

“Yes, if that helps.” She sighed. “We have to get Frank Castle off the street before anyone else gets hurt.” No shit.

“You're asking for favors, after all the shit you've pulled?” Karen questioned. 

“If you want our cooperation, then we need to know what you know all right?” Matt reasoned. “All of your cards on the table, right now.”

There was a pause.

“I've made mistakes.” Reyes started. “Central Park.Castle and his family. I screwed up.”

Karen’s eyes bulged and her mouth fell open. 

“Frank Castle's family being gunned down is not a mistake, it's a massacre.”

“Wait. I swear to God, if I had any idea that people might get hurt, - I would not have done that.” Reyes refuted.

Matt leaned forward in shock.

“You-Your office was part of it?” He exclaimed.

“Why am I not surprised?” Foggy leaned back, shaking his head.

“Listen,” Reyes hissed, pulling out an x-ray from her desk drawer. It was of a skull: Frank Castle’s. “I found this in my daughter’s backpack today. God, I don’t know how he got it there or- or if he’s coming for me-”

“Hey, that’s not very likely.” Karen reassured her. “Is she somewhere else now?”

“Yes, my daughter is in a safe location. But we have to find him. You see why now, right?” She put her hands on the desk and I saw her as a real person for the first time. Wrinkles on her face, worry lines between her eyebrows and dark circles from not sleeping. This really affected her, I could tell. 

Foggy opened his mouth to speak until Matt jolted all of a sudden.

“Everyone get down!” He screamed.

He dove on top of me and the last thing I saw before we rolled towards the desk was Reyes’ body becoming riddled with bullet holes and hearing Foggy scream out in pain.

The last thing I felt before my head hit the desk was a bullet through my chest.

Everything went black.

---

Hey guys! Sorry abt the long wait, school started and I'm getting my life back together. Hope u enjoy this and I'll try to be more active from now on!