RUSTY | frank castle

ELEVEN

Frank listened to her accent, her tone of voice and the way she spoke. He forgot how distinct her voice was. It was so calming, yet full of energy. He smiled lightly as he looked at her. She was talking to her dogs, playing with the dogs. 

Rusty thought he was resting, she instructed him to. His smiles and her laughing were stopped when they both saw commotion on one of David's monitors. Rusty straightened up, ignoring Fender as he stood by her feet. One part of the screen seemed to be shattered - maybe it was the camera. 

The Lieberman sighed, looking at the scene uncomfortably. Rusty wanted to speak up about it, but knew it wasn't her place. Frank frowned, still in bed. 

  ••• 

Sam met Dinah in the corridor and started speaking, "One of the guys on your list turned up. Gunner Henderson."

Agent Madani took the paperwork form Sam, looking at it. "Where is he?"

"Dead." Sam said, though with more sarcasm than he should've. "On a mountain in Kentucky."

The two entered Dina Madani's office. The said woman didn't look up as she spoke again, "Close the door."

The man did as she said, though he didn't like the way her new authority changed her behaviour. She was using it, probably. He sighed, "Are we going to Kentucky?"

The woman already had a phone to her ear. "You could've said, 'Good news, bad news, Dinah'."

"I guess I could have." Stein didn't have enough time to finish as Madani spoke again, this time on the phone.

"Can I speak to the sheriff, please? This is Homeland Security. It's urgent." She looked up, "Thanks."

Sam sighed. "We're going to Kentucky."

   •••   

Frank had pulled his black shirt over his head, one hand resting on his neck, elbow up, as Rusty applied a large piece of protective dressing on a knife wound he had gained when fighting alongside Gunner in Kentucky. 

The large man's heart was beating rather quickly for his liking. Maybe it was the fact that he was excited or extremely happy, but he knew for sure it was because of Rusty's fingers on his bare skin. He hadn't felt her touch in nearly two years, and he couldn't really hide the fact that he had missed it. Frank turned his head to look at her, taking in her distinct eyes as she focused on applying the dressing as gently and effectively as she could. 

Rusty ran her hand over the dressing, adding pressure so the glue would stick to Frank's skin. "Oh, how I missed patching you up, Frankie." She said, giving him her classic smirk as she continued working. She didn't say it loud enough for David to hear while he worked on one of the computers, as she knew the nickname would embarrass Frank. 

Her poster boy chuckled, remembering the training and the missions with Rusty. He remembered he always somehow managed to get himself injured, one way or another.

"You used to shout at me for getting hurt too much." Frank said, smiling as he looked at Rusty. 

He still couldn't really believe she was here. Her tall body, strong legs, her precise hands, fiery hair and the beautiful and rare colour of her eyes. 

"Blackbird to Raven, come in. Blackbird to Starling, come in."

Rusty froze, instinctively looking up to where the sound was coming from. Frank just frowned, also confused. The sound and the names were familiar to the both of them.