13658/I Think He's Still Alive

I Think He's Still Alive
Date of Scene:	27 December 2022
Location:	Maria's Homeless Squat
Synopsis:	Maria is led to what turns out to be Frank Castle, unconscious from his prior wounds. She enlists aid in helping him.
Cast of Characters:	Frank Castle, Maria King

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Frank Castle has posed:
Frank got hit hard. No doubt about it. He was already pretty battered, banged up from his fight in the junkyard last month, then breaking out of captivity. Only to get stupid and try to show off in front of a superhero and end up bashing his ribcage in on a strange fire escape. His whole chest burns and it hurts to breathe. He knows he's got a multi-level concussion, leaving him groggy. He shouldn't fall asleep.

He passed out in the subway a half mile away from the entryway into his secret tunnel. Just a lost figure in strange territory. But Frank Castle had helped the people here on a few occasions. Driving away bullies. Keeping them safe. Occasionally even bringing a bit of food.

A young girl finds him after he'd passed out, a pool of his own blood around him. Luckily, she knows how to call Maria with this burner phone...and hope the girl can help the strange man with the skull on his chest...

Maria King has posed:
The dark is broken only by the faint beams of light that shine down through the small holes in the manhole cover at the top of the ladder. For the longest time after the man falls and is left unconscious, nothing happens. But eventually there are sounds. Something scraping against the manhole cover. Voices muffled by the thick metal.

Finally the cover is pushed aside a little bit at a time, until finally it is out of the way. If anyone was conscious below to see, a girl's face, just visible in the moonlight, peers down. "I can't see anything," Maria comments softly. Soon a small penlight is shining down, the girl squinting to make out what's at the bottom.

Not long after, two figures descend the ladder. The youngest, a girl not quite yet a teen, says, "Told you I heard someone." Maria nods to the younger girl as she crouches by the man. "I think he's dead," the younger girl says.

Maria bites her lip and then pulls off a too-thin glove to hold the back of her fingers near to his nose. "I think he's still alive," Maria replies. "He's breathing. But not for long if he's left down here." She frowns as she shines the weak little light. "I think this might be blood," she says, touching it with her fingers and then a little red up on them.

Maria is careful as she rolls the man over and opens his jacket to check for where he's bleeding from.

Frank Castle has posed:
Frank Castle wakes up coughing, spitting out some more blood in the process. His nose is broken, sinuses damaged, and the blood builds up there, choking him occasionally. Probably kept him alive in some ways, though, snapping him out of the concussion reverie and keeping him from falling into a proper coma.

When she touches his face, his hand moves rapidly and grasps her wrist hard, the man rolling over sharply. The death's head emblem on his chest is bright white, stained here and there with his own blood as he stares into the eyes of this strange girl. He doesn't know her. Maybe she's an angel, "Maria," he says softly.

But he doesn't mean her. He means another Maria, one he lost...

Maria King has posed:
Both girls jump when the man moves suddenly. The younger girl grabbing the ladder, while Maria starts as the man actually grabs her hand and says her name, or so Maria thinks, before he slumps and passes out again.

"You... you know him?" the younger girl asks, eyes widening as she looks to Maria.

The petite teen gives a quick shake of her head. She looks down at her wrist, the little bit of blood left by his hand where he grabbed her. "No, I've never seen him before," she says. Maria reaches out to gently prod him. As she does, Maria's eyes finally alight on the death's head emblem on his shirt.

This time Maria does jump back a little. "His shirt... that's... that's the Punisher. He's Frank Castle," she says, the words a whisper, yet somehow carrying the same emphasis an exclamation would have.

She swallows and looks at the unconscious man, then up at the manhole opening above, then back down to him. Maria moves her arm to cover up her nose. "Been through the sewers," she murmurs, the smaller girl nodding her agreement.

The younger girl says, "You going to call the police, or take him to a hospital?" She lets go of the ladder and moves to stand beside Maria again, looking down at him.

Maria sighs. She mumbles something to herself, "... finding unconscious people..." and, "... why me...?" and then lets out a breath and looks back up at the exit again. "No, he... the police, can't call them. And a hospital will be as bad. Go ahead and climb out and... Jesus how am I going to get him out?"

The girl finally reaches down, tentative about even touching at him at first, but then finally pulling him off the ground. It's a struggle, the man weighs at least twice what she does! But she finally manages to get him across her shoulders. Barely able to take a step, she gets hold of the ladder. She lifts a foot to a higher rung and grunts with exertion as she begins climbing with him over her shoulders.

Frank Castle has posed:
The wound only bleeds a bit more, the cold and time causing it to clot, but there's enough wet yet to smear against her skin when she rolls him and gets a good look at that skull emblem. When he's hefted up, his eyes open again, swimming a little. It's hard to see, hard to think, even if he feels a girl lifting him up.

"No, no, 'sokaybaby...I can do Santa this year..." he says, eyes fluttering for a moment and managing to help with a few steps here and there, "Maria!" he calls out and he punches his hand into the side of wall fo the tunnel. Probably broke a finger doing it. He doesn't seem to notice.

"Frankie. Oh my baby," he says and then he's crying, crying as he'es lead to this strange place, until she finds a place to put him where he can rest.

Maria King has posed:
Every step causes the muscles in Maria's arms and legs to burn as she is using both of them for each foot of progress gained. When the unconscious man stirs briefly and lashes out, she barely manages to hang on, both of them nearly falling off the ladder.

Somehow she not only manages to hold on, but Maria feels suddenly a little buoyed, as if the fright of the fall is giving her a surge of energy. She manages rung after rung, not noticing his weight quite so much. Though it's a long climb and near the top she starts to flag finally. Her stomach starts rumbling with hunger. She was already hungry before, but now her stomach feels like it's turning itself inside out for want of food.

Finally they emerge from the top of the manhole, Maria rolling the man onto the alley's floor, and then just managing to crawl out and lie there beside him, lungs heaving for breath. The little girl has already run off.

Time passes. Time spent dragging a body down an alley. Trying to not be seen dragging a body down an alley. That gets you noticed. Maria's luck holds, the girl pulling Frank Castle into cover twice just before someone comes down the alley. Both times they go unnoticed.

Finally she reaches her destination. Frank is laid on his back beside the fire which Maria spends a few minutes stoking. A rolled up shirt goes beneath his head to cushion it. Maria crawls back out of the squat, pulling the filing cabinet over the hole to conceal it, then entering into a stumbling run as she goes for the one person she can count on to help.

Frank Castle has posed:
Frank Castle has been attended to in worse and far more cruel ways. The fire is a comfort, soaking into his bones and he uses the cushion for its purpose. He sleeps, hard, only occasionally rolling over and giving a wince as he feels his body still beaten up pretty hard. Is he better? Underneath, perhaps, yes, but it's hard for him to feel it yet. So much shock to the system.

His eyes open slow, wary. Hours later. Slowly sitting up and taking in his surroundings. Not one of his hideouts. Someone helped. He sees the young girl and figures she must be someone's daughter or wife. Old fashioned old man, "Thank you for your...hospitality," he says. His voice croaks. Weaker than he expected. Physically, too. He's only just started to have strength in his arms again.

Frank Castle has posed:
Frank Castle has been attended to in worse and far more cruel ways. The fire is a comfort, soaking into his bones and he uses the cushion for its purpose. He sleeps, hard, only occasionally rolling over and giving a wince as he feels his body still beaten up pretty hard. Is he better? Underneath, perhaps, yes, but it's hard for him to feel it yet. So much shock to the system.

His eyes open slow, wary. Hours later. Slowly sitting up and taking in his surroundings. Not one of his hideouts. Someone helped. He holds his hands out to the fire for a moment and checks his weaopns. Still there. He hasn't been disarmed. He tries to force himself up to his feet, see if he can find a sink to wash his face and somewhere he can check his injuries. HEll, how was he even moving already? Had he beehn asleep longer than he thought?

Before he makes it up, though, the weakness washes over him again and he falls back, frustrated, "Dammit," he mutters, his eyes closing as he thinks he'll just rest for a moment then push through and spare this person the trouble of taking care of Frank Castle.

Only he's passed out again.

Maria King has posed:
As the pain in his ribs and head and, probably everywhere else, bring Frank in and out of consciousness, everything is blurry. As likely a fever dream as something real. No idea how long passes fully unconscious between those little moments of partial wakefulness. Two voices.

"... it has a name, it's called aiding and abetting..."

"... couldn't leave him..."

"... would be protected if I was a doctor - though they prosecuted the one who treated Lincoln's assassin - but remember I'm just a veterinarian..."

Pain, the familiar pain of a needle stitching a wound.

"... smells like a sewer..."

"... kind of where I found him..."

"... think he's waking?"

"... could be prosecuted for giving this shot to a human..."

Deep, sedative-induced sleep finally takes Frank Castle. Somehow, the Punisher has managed to survive the night.