13991/Punisher's Aftermath

Punisher's Aftermath
Date of Scene:	28 January 2023
Location:	Home of a Maggia Capo, NYC
Synopsis:	A night out for Lara and Steve is interrupted by a call to check out a Punisher-induced quintuple homicide. Cap's hunt for the vigilante continues. Lara makes a discovery.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Lara Croft

---

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve and Lara had gone out for dinner. Dressed casually, they had driven over towards Chelsea in a sedan from the Avengers vehicle fleet. No particular place in mind, instead just driving around and picking a place that looked interesting. The appetizer had left something to be desired, but the main courses more than made up for it. Steve's blackened red snapper was amazing, though Lara had had to convince him laughingly that blackened didn't mean 'burnt'.

After dinner they had walked along the streets, enjoying the brisk night air. The sounds of laughter from a club led them to stop off at a tiny hole in the wall comedy club that had an open mike night. Those who took the stage were a mix of talented and 'working on it'. But the crowd was in a good mood and at least laughed with the latter group of comedians more than at them.

Now the pair are departing the comedy club, Steve helping Lara into her jacket before they step out onto the sidewalk. Overhead the night skies are clear of clouds, though the city lights make seeing the stars a near impossibility. Steve slips an arm about Lara's waist as they walk along the sidewalk over to where the car is parked on the street. "I don't know that we could have come up with a better night if we've planned it," Steve comments as he looks over at the brunette Englishwoman, sharing a soft smile her way.

Lara Croft has posed:
'Thank you.' Lara says quietly as Steve helps her in to her leather jacket, a slim fit dark blue sweater worn beneath it, along with a pair of black pants, also trim to her form, and a pair of black boots that go up to just underneath her knees. She takes her scarf out of her jacket inner pocket and starts to wrap it around her neck a couple times before her hands go in to her pockets, and they're out on the side street. When she feels him put his arm around her, she looks over at him, and gives him that soft half smile of hers. "I would agree. But then again, I feel the most interesting things happen when you don't plan for them. Good, and otherwise." She states back, her smile slipping in to a coy grin.

A horn honked up the street draws her eyes away from his to look toward it, a few people shouting at each other over some irrelevent nonsense half a block ahead of them.

Lara just exhales and tilts her head over to the side to lay it on his sizable shoulder.

"I'm looking forward to a hot shower, and a nice warm bed too." She notes in a dreamy version of her soothing voice. "I have to be up early tomorrow, I'm going over some records at the Natural History Museum. A friend e-mailed me about a bunch of lost shipments from over a year ago, that they think are just sitting stuffed away in a corner. Not exactly my finest moment of searching for lost relics, but an important one nonetheless...."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve turns his head to brush a light kiss to the top of Lara's head as they walk together towards the car. He's in regular denim jeans and a dark grey sweater, with a dark brown leather jacket overtop. "Looking forward to joining you," Steve tells her in his warm, teasing tone, leaning just a bit closer to add, "in both of those."

His lips hold that smile as they walk along. "Well, lost is lost I suppose. Whether buried in a cave guarded by animated statues of spider gods, or mislabeled and gathering dust in a museum storeroom the result is the same. Just one is less 'fun' than the other," he comments warmly to the lady adventurer.

They reach the car, Steve unlocking it with a button press and opening the door for Lara. Once she's situated he goes around and slides into the driver side and pulls out to begin the drive back to Greenwich.

Steve flips on the radio, settling on a station that they both enjoy, rather than subject her to the station that plays 40s music. "I almost forgot, I wanted to mention-" he gets out before he's interrupted by the chirp of his phone. The ring tone is the one he uses for the Avengers duty phone. He draws a deep breath and answers it on hands free. "Steve here, on speaker with Lara Croft present," he says.

"Captain," Clint's voice says, though his tone making it utterly informal. "Hey Lara, sorry to interrupt you two. Unless he was making you listen to Count Basie or someone like that, in which case you can thank me later," Clint says over the phone. "Cap, you wanted to be notified of anything involving the Punisher. Apparently he shot up a house in Union Square. It's already over, he got away. Police are on the scene."

Steve's lips press in a line. He's been hunting Frank Castle for the last three weeks. Just last week he found a safehouse, but Castle escaped it in the time it took Cap to disengage from the conversation with the elderly woman who had given him the lead. And left behind a stack of money for the woman.

"Thanks Clint, appreciate it," he says, before hanging up. Steve glances over to Lara. "I don't suppose you would be amenable to delaying that shower just a little bit longer?" he asks. "Though I could drop you off first before heading over there?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara had laughed at his comment about the shower. "I'm all for it. But I'm all for getting a larger shower too, so we're not fighting over the hot water stream." She fired back at him with a little grin, knowing full well that he would just stand there in the cold and let her have all the hot water if she wanted it.

She slips in to the passenger seat of the fancy sedan, and adjusts her jacket around her waist before her phone is set down in her lap. When the car starts up, and he's answering that call, she's grinning at the words exchanged between the two men. "Nothing quite so dramatic, Clint. But you are still my strongest motivator to keep up my archery skills." She chides the man on the other end of the connection.

In truth, Cap was lucky... Lara actually likes old fashioned music. Maybe not all the time, but in medium sized doses she's all for it. Her own personal flavor of music is pretty low key and not all that different, if just brought up to a more contemporary level of design.

When the call ends, Lara looks back over to Steve, taking her eyes off the window to her right. "No no, I'm fine with going along. I'm worried about you fighting this guy, as you know. He's... he's a broken man. I've been reading quite a lot about him. I don't disagree with all of it, but I do disagree with enough to know he is beyond dangerous on a direct scale, of not a indirect one too."

Steve Rogers has posed:
After hearing Lara's reply, Steve takes a turn at the next intersection, redirecting the car towards Union Square. "I'm hoping we can help him," Steve says, in the same kind of tone he uses when he confides in Lara about some of the men and women from his veteran's group that he tries to help. "That he only is targeting those who are themselves harming others, tells me there's still enough of him in there we can try to reach," Steve agrees. "Even with what he's gone through. But sooner or later his luck is going to run out with his private war not spilling over onto people who have no part in it."

The traffic is fairly light this late. At least by New York standards, which means there's a decent amount of traffic. But after about twenty minutes, the buildings up ahead are lit with red and blue flashing lights. A number of police cars and ambulances are pulled up outside a walled house in a fairly affluent area.

Steve pulls up and parks a short distance from the police tape cordon that has been put up. "I doubt we'll need it as sounds like it's over, but just to be safe, there's something in the glove box you might want to grab," he tells Lara.

He climbs out of the car then, going around to the trunk to get something, which will give Lara time to exit the car without his help, though if she takes too long he'll be there to open the door.

Lara Croft has posed:
"Oh, I hope so as well. If his motivations are true to what he seems to claim they are." Lara had said softly before she'd just gone back to staring out the window, and glancing adown at her phone. She did send off a text though, that she said was just to Jonah who asked if they enjoyed the comedy show.

When they arrived, and Steve indicated the globe box, Lara opened it to find her 1911 with the special made 'skeletal' trigger. She smirked softly over at him before she went on to remove her leather jacket, pull the harness on, and then adjust it with the jacket back on over it. The door to the vehicle popped open then, and Lara stepped out of it. She let it shut, and started to walk around the front of the vehicle to stand on the curb. Her eyes take in the sight before them, then she glances over to the shielded Captain beside her.

"Surely he's long gone by now though..." She does quietly say to Steve next.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"I expect he is," Steve agrees as he has his iconic shield in hand. "Though there was an incident I read about before I started on his case," he says as he motions towards the police cordon and begins walking with Lara towards it. "He made an attack on a bar which was an Irish mob hangout. Staked it out after, waited until some of their higher leadership showed up, then attacked again," Steve finishes in a grim tone. "So better to be prepared."

As they approach the police, Steve lifts a hand to gesture as he says, "But please don't mention to Clint I keep one of your guns in the car, and my shield. He'll make a Boy Scout badge, something to do with preparedness and sew it on my uniform when I'm not watching," he says with a soft sigh. He lifts the tape for Lara to step under and then follows.

The shield also serves as ID when it comes to gaining admission to the crime scene. The patrolman on duty calls for one of the detectives who comes out. "Jim Reynolds," he says, offering his hand. Steve shakes it and says, "This is SHIELD agent Lara Croft. I've been tracking Mr. Castle, was hoping we could take a look."

Reynods looks over to Lara. "Agent Croft," he says. "Sure. We've got 5 deceased. He came in with a silenced gun near as we can tell. Took out three before he was spotted and then, well you can see what happened then," he says as he motions for the pair to follow.

Two men were shot outside, both with double shots to the head. CSI is currently doing their thing there. Both men have guns in shoulder holsters but didn't manage to draw them. Reynolds lets Steve and Lara take a look before leading them inside, where a third man is down.

He has two rounds in the chest, and then one in the head that looks like it happened after he was on the ground, his own gun lying on the ground by him. Reynolds says, "He got off a shot. From here Castle fought his way through the living area, killed one more. Assault rifle apparently. Got into the den where the owner of the home, Michael Lombardi, had been. He fled while his bodyguard engaged Castle. Went down but Lombardi made it into a safe room. We've been questioning him," he says.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara went about taking her SHIELD badge out of her jacket inner pocket and rolling out the lanyard to wrap it around her neck. by the time she ducked under the tape line held up by Steve, and came back up to greet the officer, she had her badge on display resting against her chest. She glances between Steve, and the Officer, and nods once to him. "Thank you for all the information on this too. It's appreciated." She says kindly to the man, her British accent likely showing off SHIELD's far-and-wide recruiting policy.

She's right there on the 'tour of death', her eyes taking in the signs of it, her face expressing distaste here and there. She's seen violence, she's killed men too... but it never sits right within her. Frank has his motivations, but...

"How does he think this is a solution?" She quietly asks, mostly just for Steve's ears. "All this method will do is inspire those who cared about these men to seek out their idea of what justice is now... It propagates. It doesn't solve." The last bit there being said with a grim tone touching the few words.

When the officer says that they're interviewing the homeowner that Castle came after, Lara looks back to the Officer. "He's cooperative then? What is his opinion on why this... Punisher, would do this?" She asks next.

Steve Rogers has posed:
No doubt at some point later tonight, Steve Rogers will make some kind of self-deprecating statement about date night with him including a stop at a quintuple homicide crime scene. Because he'll have to say something. But it won't detract from the high regard he has for Lara's professional skills. As evidenced not only by not trying to keep her from coming, but from wanting to include her for her keen powers of observation.

Though that will be later tonight. For now, his attention is definitely on the scene. Steve's eyes trace over the crime scene, looking about as if reconstructing how the infiltration and subsequent fights went down from the bullet patterns and placement of the bodies.

A quiet sound is given from deep in Steve's throat. He replies quietly to Lara, "The kind of loss he's been through? His perspective is just..." Steve trails off and gives a quiet shake of his head, expression one of empathy more than frustration.

At the question, Detective Reynolds sighs and shrugs. "Cooperative is a relative term. Says he runs an import-export business. The armed guards are," he says, pausing to pull out a pad and read from his notes, "...members of his hunting club who were gathering to plan a hunting trip. All their weapons fully licensed and legal, he's sure. Says he has no idea why he'd be targeted. Unless he's just on a vendetta against Italian-Americans." Reynolds flips the notepad closed.

"Let's take a look at his den," Steve says. The Detective leads the way. Inside is a fancy combination of office space and mancave. One wall is a big set of ornate shelves with a number of different expensive display pieces on it. The body in this room is covered with a sheet already, though there is a blood stain soaking the carpet around it. On the desk is a small carboard box. A statue with obvious Asian influence is lying askew in it as if it was perhaps being handled before being hurriedly dropped when the gunfight broke out.

Lara Croft has posed:
"Mm." Lara immediately responds to the Officer. "I strongly doubt the men were carrying weapons one would use on a hunting expedition..." She dryly comments in that well timed way that British people are so trained at. When they enter the office, Lara just starts to sweep her brown eyes about its interior. She's not here to do anything but observe, and offer any input where she might feel its necessary.

She notes the sheet covered body, she notes the blood... of course, and then looks up to where she suspects the Punisher likely moved through next. Eventually though, Lara just steps over to the desk and after taking her eyes off of the sleves, she drops them down on to the box.

Oh, hello...

Lara leans forward ever so slightly to peer within the box at the little statue.

"Interesting..." She quietly says, likely drawing some attention her way. She doesn't reach out for it though, not wanting to contanimate the crime scene with her fingerprints...

"Do we have any information on why this is here?" She asks of the statue, glancing toward the investigator.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve crouches, just outside of the blood stain, to lift the sheet to check the location of the wounds, then lowers it as he looks about the room. Noting bullet holes in a few places as again he's playing through the fight in his mind.

As Steve straightens and stands again, Detective Reynolds comes over to Lara. He reaches in his suit coat's pocket and pulls out some gloves he offers her so she can examine the statue without leaving fingerprints. "Already been photographed," he says, giving a further level of permission. "Nothing definitive. Said he was at his desk when they heard the first gunshot, followed by the assault rifle. Ran for the safe room which is through there," Reynolds says motioning towards the other door out of the room.

"I'll go get him, he's in there talking to my partner," Reynolds says, before disappearing into the safe room.

Steve walks over to join Lara. "We can run his name through SHIELD and the Avenger's databases. Though I haven't heard of Castle going after people who didn't fall into his target profile." Steve looks over to the desk where Lara is looking. "Something stand out to you?" he asks.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara thanks the Officer with a soft smile as she accepts the gloves and begins to shimmy her hands in to them one after the other. Once she has them on, she reaches out to lift the statue up out of the box. She's turning it around in her hands when the homeowner, Micheal Lombardi appears in the doorway. "Don't drop that. It's worth more than this entire house!" He spits out at the sight of the woman holding the statue.

Lara looks over her shoulder at him, and then back down at it. When Steve approaches her, she regards him. "Do you know what this is?" She asks Lombardi.

He snorts. "Of course I know what it is, and what the hell is a SHIELD agent doing here?" He fires back.

"Apparently a lot more than I thought I'd be doing." Lara instantly slings back at him. She turns to Steve and the Investigator. "This is a Taoist interpretation of King Yan. The Chinese God of Death." She explains. The Overseer of the ten Kings of Hell, within its capitol city of Youdu..."

"That's right, Lady, and I went through at least eight of those Hell realms just to get that thing." Lombardi tries to interject. "So do me a favor and put it back in the box!" He seems to be getting agitated, but he was shot at tonight after all!

Lara affords him another look, and then glances down at the statue. "I'm sure." Lara dryly replies as her gloved hands grip the statue by its head, and then its base. She applies pressure to it and it suddenly snaps.

Lombardi gasps. He literally gasps like a loud screeching old woman. "What in the fu---"

Lara breaks the statue open, and in one gloved hand she pours out a series of smaller statues, all crafted from brilliantly sparkling gemstones. She pours them in to her hand like colorful candies in a candy store...

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve stands by as Lara examines the statue. Detective Reynolds emerges with his partner when Lombardi comes in. The former looks over to Steve with a questioning look. He just gets back a shrug of Steve's shoulders accompanied by a look of confident patience in Lara a she does her thing.

Michael stands about 5'9" and a slight build but for the paunch he's developing. The tone he addresses Lara with hardens Steve's expression, though he doesn't interrupt, letting Lara take the conversation where she will.

As Lara starts to put pressure on the statue, the police detective looks a bit anxious, but the head pops off before he decides if it's worth objecting to the SHIELD agent and Captain Freaking America.

Steve moves to Lara's side as those tiny gemstone statues twinkle brilliantly in her hand, getting a closer look at them. He glances up and over to Michael Lombardi. "I'm guessing those probably weren't part of the customs declaration?" he asks. The two policemen put their hands on their hips as they face Lombardi with expectant looks.

Lara Croft has posed:
"It's not broken." Lara dryly speaks as she can feel everyone in the room is tense with what she just did. "I just popped the seal. There's no reason to ever close it again anyway, as these are the real value... depending on what it is that you value." She says, moving her hand just a little to let the different figurines all sparkle in the office ambient lights.

"I present to you the other ten Kings of Hell, straight out of Youdu..."

Of course Lombardi looks at Lara's hand, the items within it, mixed around by old strands of string that had kept them safe from jostling around inside the statue. "Look. I didn't know those were in there. I was told that the container thing was what was gonna net me some serious dough!" He exclaims before Lara just pays him a disinterested glance before she looks back to Cap and the Officers. "This." She holds up the statue. "Is how these..." She holds up the smaller gemstone figurines. "Get transported around the world, to end up in the collections of black market dealers, or... just hunters with a lot of extra cash to throw around." She says with another little smirk. "I've never seen this many in one statue before though..." She adds a bit more quiet in tone as her eyes go back down to the sparkling figurines.

"You know, seeing these up close and personal like this, I am seeing why some believe that they're keys..." She says to no one in particular.

Lombardi chimes up again. "Woah woah woah, okay, this is bullshit. I bought that Statue just to put on my shelf, to display. I'm... I'm. I want my lawyer here, like, immediately." He points at Lara. "You owe me money for this." He declares.

"Oh please." Lara says back at him with a bored expression.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The two police detectives look at each other and say, "I think that's probably a wise move," Reynold's partner says in a sarcastic tone. "We'll be needing all of the paperwork you have on this, and will be taking it into custody in the meantime."

Detective Reynolds looks to Lara and says, "We will speak with Customs. Though if SHIELD wants access I imagine we can work that out, long as chain of custody is maintained." Reynolds looks back to Lombardi. "You know. For a potential trial if the DA decides to pursue charges."

Lombardi fumes, crossing his arms and walking back into the safe room as if to avoid being provoked into saying something that might harm his legal prospects. Steve smiles over to Lara. "Nice job," he tells her. He looks down at the beautiful gemstone carvings. "I'm going to have to really up my Valentine's Day game," he says aloud to himself as he looks at her holding the beautiful relics.

Steve looks back to the police. "I'll contact your precinct to get a copy of your report. Thank you for allowing us to take a look," he tells the officers.

Steve turns to look at the blood-stained carpet and the plastic sheet covered corpse, realizing his chase of The Punisher isn't yet much closer to completion.