It Will Come Back [Frank Castle].

Speak

For weeks after their first meeting, Frank seemed to materialize on Michelle's doorstep with Max whenever she had any free night.

It was hard not to note that Frank was like a walking shadow, always dressed in dark clothes, face hidden from the light. Michelle wondered if anyone else noticed him the way she was starting to.

Never did he get caught up in passing crowds of neighborhood kids or dish out mindless chatter with any of the elderly folks that always tried to rope some poor victim into listening to their tales of Back In The Day. Occasionally, she'd actually catch him ducking his head down while crossing the street, turning away from people walking by like he owed them money or something. That was only on days where he didn't just appear out of thin air.

Still, with his weirdly antisocial behavior, she readily took the happy dog into her home each time Frank showed up. No matter how little he spoke to everyone else, he was just a delight to her. It was so refreshing around this area that she shook her head at the wads of money Frank tried to give her in exchange.

He just started pinning the money to Max's collar again, giving Michelle a pointed look when she tried to say he no longer had to pay her to watch his dog for a couple hours. "Just take it, Michelle. You're doin' me a solid for this. This is the only way I know how to thank you. I don't bake as good as you."

"Okay..." she had answered in a strange tone, one that made him suspicious. "If you say so, Frank." Like she said, she started taking the money without fighting him or anymore complaints.

Max suddenly started coming home to him with a bag full of baked goods hanging from a pouch Michelle attached to him. Frank was too busy snacking to tease her for being so stubborn. Her baking was good, he hadn't lied about that. If she wanted to repay him like that, he was fine with it.

They fell into a rhythm after that. It was one that offered them both moments of pleasant conversation to steal before Frank had to turn someone into Swiss cheese, or Michelle had to face mountains of papers to grade. Soon, they found themselves acting almost like an odd pair of friends brought together by even odder circumstances, which they were.

Every single time he couldn't come back for Max until the morning, Michelle worried. Her new, attractive friend was always sporting bruises on his face and knuckles, or limping around. Shadows like him shouldn't be getting hurt, right? Or was he someone else when not with her?

She never asked about any of it because asking questions about shit that wasn't her business always meant getting involved in dangerous things. Yet, even with that knowledge, it did nothing to curb the worry. Not one bit.

Frank appreciated that she never asked. He never knew what he'd tell her when the day would inevitably come. The thought of lying to her made him sick, but what if he told the truth and she hated him instead? Thoughts like that distressed him enough to give him nightmares about trying to reach her but always being just inches behind, unable to see anything but her back.

The purposeful ignorance agreed upon between them wasn't healthy, and for now, they were okay with it. They didn't want answers that could shatter the images of each other they'd been presented. Even if they obsessed over the different answers when alone.

Dancing around an important topic had never been done by a pair so obviously curious.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, Teach, what's it like trying to wrangle a bunch of teens into doing their homework?"

Michelle looked up from her laptop, glad to be distracted from this poorly constructed presentation sent to her. It was much more fun to be distracted by the way Frank was stretched out on her couch, flipping through channels so fast she was sure he didn't even know what he was seeing.