The Taste of Pain | A Frank Castle Fanfic

Really. Another Beginning?

Lena stuffed the sticky note in her pocket as she stood up. She looked toward Frank then she made a motion to the exit.

"Nope, we have our own bus to take." He said with a hint of joy.

Lena cocked her head, "Are you really gonna follow Amy?"

Frank grinned and looked away, maybe to hide his happiness, "No, we're headed to Wisconsin."

Lena's small grin faded, "Ew." She mumbled under her breath.

"Just-- it looks like our bus just pulled up." He stared at Lena but she didn't move. "Please Lena, you're gonna regret it if you don't go."

Lena rolled her eyes and wrapped her arm around his as they boarded the bus. They showed their passes to the driver and got a seat in the very back.

"We really shouldn't be going anywhere, Frank. Your face is busted and we both need time to heal before we do another 'mission'." Frank stared at her air quotes as she never made hand gestures when she spoke.

Lena caught him staring, "What?"

Frank just shrugged his shoulders and looked out the window, "My face is fine Lena." He chuckled.

She slouched in her chair a bit, preparing for the long ride from New York to Wisconsin.

~

She woke up to Frank nudging her. "Lena, we're stopping for a bit." She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked around to the empty bus.

"Where are we?" 

Frank straightened his back, "Somewhere in Ohio. The bus is stopping for an hour we should get up."

Lena nodded her head, "I'm gonna find a bathroom."

As she got off the bus she saw the sign indicating the women's room. She swung the door open and rushed to the sinks. 

She grabbed a handful of soap and started to wash her face. As she looked up she saw lines in her face from Frank's shirt. She grinned down to herself as she reached for the sticky note in her back pocket. 

Remaining water from her fingertips transferred to the crumbled yellow paper. On the note read an address in Hell's Kitchen. Under the address, it wrote, "Er wartet auf Lena." She shivered at the words.

As a woman walked into the bathroom Lena quickly stuffed the note in her pocket and headed out. There sat Frank with a handful of cash.

Lena raised an eyebrow at him, "What are we gonna use that for? New identities?" She chuckled and so did Frank.

"No. We're gonna be here a while and nothing on this earth is free." he smiled.

Lena held out her hand and Frank placed half the money in it. She got up and walked to the row of vending machines. She scanned the contents inside and looked at Frank, who was right beside her.

"Well, what should we get?" She asked unfolding the accidental mistakes in the bills.

Frank just shrugged making Lena roll her eyes. She turned towards the vending machine and stuck all the bills in. She then looked at Frank then back at the machine, she randomly ran her hand against the buttons and waited. 

The vending machine soon started to drop food in the slot. Lena grinned at Frank as she bent down to grab the food.

~

Lena sat on the bus holding an absurd amount of food. She let out a sigh as she stuffed the food in a compartment in front of her.

"What?" Frank asked in reply to her sigh.

Lena's lips twitched, "I don't know, it feels weird to travel like normal people but its also hard to enjoy it because I have to worry if someone notices us or if we make another person mad... Or if someone is following us."

His face contorted with concern, "Did someone tip you off? Are we being followed?"

Lena had spoken too much, "I-It was just an example." Lena sighed a breath of relief as the bus started again. 

She leaned her head against Frank's chest knowing the lines it would leave on her face. But she didn't care, at this moment she was afraid, what did the note mean by saying "he is waiting"? Lena felt safe with Frank like she could finally let her guard down.

~

She woke up to the movement of the bus stopping. She watched as everyone had started to get off. She pleaded to herself that they weren't in Wisconsin yet.

"You have now arrived in Wisconsin." The driver had shouted into the intercom before getting off himself.

Lena huffed, giving a clear sign to Frank that she was awake. "Why are we here Frank? I rather be in Tuvalu. Ever heard of it? Of course not, it's the least visited country."

Frank gave a small chuckled. "You'll see Lena." His voice was groggy like he had also just woken up.

She lifted her head from his chest and stood up. Most of the snacks were gone but she didn't care. She was pissed at Frank, he brought her to the worse state she could possibly be. She didn't want to go off on Frank, so she just let her anger be an undertone.

"Well... let's go." She told Frank.

He raised an eyebrow and got up and followed after her. Once off the bus, she turned to him. "Now where?"

"We call a cab." He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote an address on it, being careful not to show Lena.

Once the cab pulled up Frank handed him the address and he started to drive. The place only became familiar to Lena five minutes away from the destination. She started to get quiet, her hands started to shake and her nose started to flare.

The cab stopped in front of an area of forest in the middle of nowhere. An outline of a house was visible. 

Frank got out of the car and walked to Lena's side where he opened the door. She looked up at him, choking on tears or anger. It was just the same now.

She reluctantly got out of the car and it drove off. Lena's breathing increased but as it did Frank put his hand on her back.

"Why Frank? Why here?" Lena asked but Frank didn't reply. He started to walk to the house and as much as Lena didn't want to, she followed.

They stood in front of the door. "So? You think it's unlocked?" Frank asked. He placed his hand on the doorknob and tried it and the door opened.

Lena sighed, she couldn't stop herself, she just had to go in. She walked in the house, empty picture frames sat above the fireplace. The entire house had a smell of dust caked upon dust.

She turned to look at Frank, "E-Everything is here. Its how he- er... I left it." Her voiced cracked as she made her way to the back door. 

The door swung open following with an explosion of dust. Once the dust settled there sat a shotgun and some bones. Lena took a sharp breath in. "That's him, Frank. That's where I dragged his body after I killed him. And that's his gun, the one I killed him with."

She lost it. She couldn't breathe, it felt like she was suffocating. She looked at Frank, her eyes pleading for help. He held her in his arm as she hyperventilated.

"It's ok, you're just having a panic attack." He cooed as she sobbed in his chest. He lead her back to the front of the house but she stopped him. 

She grabbed for a gas can and poured it over the house, liquifying the dust. As she walked out she lit a match and threw it in the house. The two called a cab to start their way back to New York.