There.
It just hit.
It's gotta be 40 stories, at least.
ELEKTRA: Down!
They're on all sides. Half a dozen, at least.
- I got a problem. - Right with you.
No, you don't get it. I can't get a read on these guys.
There's no sound, there's no heartbeat, there's nothing.
- They're trained to hide themselves. - How do you know?
Don't focus on the fighters, track their weapons.
- They have swords. - They have swords, I can hear.
Elektra, no!
Matthew...
So...
who wants to get the hell out of here?
by janjala
She's losing too much blood.
STICK: Hell of a scrape.
Where are you taking her?
They're still coming. Fast little shits.
- MATT: Who are they, Stick? - Bad time to chat.
- Matty! - On it!
- STICK: Watch your ass. - Yeah.
No, no, no. No, she's dying.
- Stick, she's dying. - STICK: Not if I can stop it.
We need to get her to a hospital.
Doctors can't help her. I can.
We're going to your place. It's her only shot.
Sweetie, stay with me. Stay with me.
STICK: Second wave. Brace her.
End of that batch.
There'll be more.
Always more.
I'm not gonna lie to you. This is bad.
What's happening to her?
STICK: You got baking soda?
MATT: Yeah, in the fridge, why?
STICK: To neutralize the acid in the toilet bowl cleaner.
Plus whiskey, pliers, black tea.
Tell me what's going on, Stick.
Do you wanna talk or save your girlfriend?
MATT: Her heart's skipping.
STICK: Whiskey.
STICK: The toxins in her bloodstream are shutting everything down.
Is she gonna live?
STICK: Baking soda?
MATT: I thought you got it.
Matthew!
I need pliers and hot tea.
The pliers are behind you.
Matthew...
I'm here. I'm here.
If I die...
No, you're not gonna die. You hear me?
Elektra, look at me.
Hey, hey, focus on me.
Breathe. Breathe.
That's good. That's good.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I didn't tell you.
STICK: Bring her in here!
Yeah.
One, two, three.
- Clean sheets. - Yeah.
MATT: Can you save her?
Not before I make her worse.
Oh, Jesus! Stick, take it easy!
Those blades were poisoned.
She'll be dead in 20 minutes
if I don't pull some serious juju out of my ass.
Make the goddamn tea!
STICK: Easy.
Easy. Easy, young lady. I'm right here.
forgive those who trespass against us.
STICK: Matty, use that hearing of yours.
How's her heart rate?
Yeah. Yeah, it's good. It's steady.
Sheets.
Not too neat...
but...
it'll do.
Tea?
Thank you.
STICK: Ah...
She'll recover?
Twenty-four hours will tell.
I've known her to pull through worse.
What'd you just say?
Ellie's a real fighter. Always has been.
You... You know her?
I didn't mention that?
What the hell's going on? How do you know Elektra?
- I'm not done in there. - I want some answers!
Everybody wants something.
- Do you want me to throw you out? - Not unless you want her to die.
Sit down, Matty.
KAREN: Where is he?
Um, I may have told him just to stay home today.
You what?
He wasn't actually supposed to do it.
Whoa, whoa, Foggy, what the hell happened yesterday?
I can't do this alone.
I didn't even wanna take this case.
- It'll be okay, I... - The whole city is watching.
If I screw up, I'd never work again.
And, frankly, you'd probably never work again, either, by association, which...
Stop, Foggy. Stop thinking about screwing up, about losing.
You need to think about winning.
Colonel Ray Schoonover, United States Marine Corps.
Do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
I do.
You got this.
BATZER: Counsel?
Colonel, how long have you known the defendant?
I'd say, the better part of a decade.
Most of his career in the Marine Corps.
So you're familiar with his service in the Middle East?
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran?
Yes, very familiar.
FOGGY: I wonder if you could tell us
how Lieutenant Frank Castle won the Navy Cross?
Due to the nature of that mission, you'll have to understand that
the precise circumstances are classified.
Um...
How about the part that's not?
Lieutenant Frank Castle was part of a small team.
He was conducting a close target reconnaissance
in the vicinity of the Hindu Kush.
The mission became compromised, taking enemy contact on three sides.
Lieutenant Castle wanted to abort.
Said the mission was a bust, pulling the plug would save lives.
- Officer in charge said "no." - FOGGY: And why was that?
Maybe he wanted more medals on his chest.
Doesn't matter. Either way, Frank was right.
They were cut off, boxed into a canyon.
FOGGY: And what happened next?
Within the first hour, the officer in charge of that mission
got his arm blown off.
So Lieutenant Castle assumed command.
His only goal was to get his men out alive.
The enemy had set up an ambush
at the only LZ that would accommodate one of our birds.
Sorry, Colonel?
LZ is a landing zone that can accommodate a helicopter.
So the enemy, they block this landing zone,
knowing it was the only shot the team had to get out alive.
All they had to do was wait.
They knew that Frank's team had to come to them.
Fish in a barrel.
So to speak.
Only fish don't know they're gonna die.
These men did.
Frank went to the LZ all by himself to draw the bastards away.
FOGGY: Why didn't he order one of his men to do it?
He certainly could have.
Not his style.
So the men hear the fire fight break out. All hell breaks loose.
Frank against God knows how many.
And then there was silence.
The team thinks, "That's it. Frank's dead, and we're next."
Next sound they hear is the helos, the helicopters.
They get to the landing zone, you know what they see?
Frank Castle, standing there, grinning.
Thirty-two muj surrounding him, all dead.
Son of a gun cleared that entire LZ all by himself.
FOGGY: How?
By being Frank Castle.
- And his men survived? - All of 'em.
Including the idiot officer that got 'em trapped in the first place.
If you had to sum up Frank Castle, how would you do it?
I would say Frank Castle is a man
who would gladly give his life to keep others safe.
FOGGY: And the crimes he's accused of today?
Could the man you knew have committed them?
Absolutely not.
Lieutenant Frank Castle that I know is a hero.
A man who deserves our respect...
and our gratitude.
Not the same man.
Thank you, sir. No more questions, Your Honor.
People?
I'd like to personally thank you for your service to this country, Colonel.
My father served in Vietnam.
- Do you know what he told me about medals? - No, ma'am.
He said the only people who truly know what happened
are the ones that were there.
You told a nice story, Colonel...
but how can we know that it happened the way you described?
Well, perhaps I wasn't clear. I was there, ma'am.
That officer that didn't listen to Frank, got his men trapped...
you're looking at him.
And believe me when I tell you,
I thank God every day that I only lost my arm.
That man saved my life, the lives of his entire team.
If it was up to me,
he'd have a Medal of Honor hanging around his neck.
No further questions at this time, Your Honor.
How'd you miss that in his file?
All the names were redacted.
Not good.
No shit.
Hey, Matt couldn't have done it better.
It was good.
MATT: How is she?
Well... she'll live.
Yeah? You sure?
Sure as I am of anything.
Jesus, didn't we do this already?
Start talking, Stick.
It's about the war.
What is?
All of it.
Roxxon, Midland Circle, the damn hole, Elektra...
All right, you've been using this war as an excuse since the day I met you,
and you still haven't told me a goddamn thing about it.
- You know what I think? - Tell me.
I think you're full of shit.
I don't think there is any war.
I think you're just a sick old fighter dying to hit people,
so you make up stories to justify your behavior.
And then, you rope in the wounded...
so that you can sit back and watch them throw away their lives,
and you can feel important.
Sit down.
Sit down, Matty.
It all began centuries ago.
Nobody knows how many,
but the shit we're dipping into...
is ancient.
Back then, warlords and their gangs ruled the countryside.
Not that much different from today.
Bloodthirsty, greedy brutes after loot, pussy, booze, same ol', same ol'.
But... one day,
one of these collections of assholes
comes across a thing they can barely understand.
Real treasure.
Not gold, or rubies, or any of that.
They found the secret.
What secret?
Immortality.
Bringing the dead back to life.
Come on, Stick.
I thought you were a Catholic, Matty.
Doesn't your whole belief system hinge on one guy pulling that off?
So...
Free from the fear of death,
these pieces of shit step up, kill their master, take over,
and paint the shores of the Far East
with the blood of anybody who stands in their way.
They grow in size, power, wealth...
spread across Asia...
and finally give themselves a name.
Yaminote.
It means, "The Hand."
And did they have a goal?
Weapons. It's always weapons.
Like, guns, bombs?
Worse.
Thing called a Black Sky.
So, what's it do, this, uh, Black Sky?
Nobody knows exactly.
Why not?
Because they've never activated one.
They've tried. They'll try again.
But...
the Hand made one mistake.
They made enemies.
Bingo.
Some say it was just a kid.
Hand comes into his village, kills everyone...
almost.
Kid... pulls the knife from the breast of his dead mother...
and goes to work.
He cuts down some of the Hand's finest warriors.
They're lying dead... kid's standing.
They give him a name. The Chaste.
And he's just one kid? Alone?
Kid grows up, rounds up every warrior he can.
Men, women, young, old, doesn't matter as long as they kick ass.
And they do.
Without mercy.
And the only protection this world has against the Hand.
Wow.
Now, in this fairy tale...
you're the Chaste, right? That's...
Is that it?
It's why I didn't tell you.
No, no, it's... It's good. It leaves you front and center.
Finding the Hand, keeping the Black Skies at bay.
Murdering when it suits you.
Believe it or don't.
The fact remains that the city you're sworn to protect
is ground zero in a war it doesn't even know is happening.
That hole is just the start.
So, you can kill, die,
or sit on your ass and watch Hell's Kitchen burn...
but this war is bigger than you, or me, or any of our...
problems.
And you've pulled Elektra to your side, haven't you?
Welcome to the world, kid.
Elektra works for me.
DR. LEE: The bullet penetrated Mr. Castle's skull
in the lower right quadrant,
or more specifically, the sphenofrontal suture,
which is the cranial suture between the sphenoid bone and the frontal bones,
both here and here.
I believe what my expert witness is trying to convey
is that my client, Frank Castle, was shot...
point blank, execution style, in the head.
Could you please describe the damage Mr. Castle sustained from the bullet?
DR. LEE: It fragmented on impact, causing damage
in both the right frontal lobe and temporal lobe of his brain.
What are the effects of such an injury?
DR. LEE: Mr. Castle is suffering from what we call sympathetic storming.
It's a heightened and ongoing state of fight or flight,
in which the sympathetic nervous system is hyperactive.
As if he is reliving the incident of trauma over and over again.
It can plunge a seemingly peaceful individual into...
mental and emotional chaos.
It sure sounds a lot like PTSD.
No, that's not where we're going.
Just... listen.
Could you define it for the jury, please?
Extreme emotional disturbance.
It's twofold.
First, the defendant is so emotionally disturbed that he loses control.
And second, the defendant has a reasonable explanation
for said disturbance, from his point of view.
Are you aware that Frank Castle's wife, son, and daughter
were all murdered right in front of him
when he sustained the brain injury in question?
An injury which, you say,
keeps him in a perpetual state of mental and emotional chaos?
I am, yes.
With that in mind, would you say that Frank Castle's mental state
satisfies the definition of "extreme emotional disturbance"?
REYES: Objection, calls for a conclusion.
FOGGY: Your Honor, Dr. Lee is an expert on the brain.
He is qualified to an opinion,
and said opinion is not only relevant, but imperative to the case.
Overruled.
Dr. Lee?
DR. LEE: Personally, I do believe he is suffering from EED, yes.
And one who's suffering from extreme emotional disturbance,
is it possible to willfully premeditate a crime?
Any infractions would be considered crimes of passion.
FOGGY: How many of your other patients
witnessed their families being brutally murdered right in front of them?
Other than Frank Castle?
He's the only one.
And so would you say the circumstances surrounding Frank's mental state
is different than those of your other patients?
I would.
And what exactly would that difference be, in simple terms?
Frank Castle's been through hell.
FOGGY: Thank you.
You killed my dad!
I don't give a shit what you've been through!
- Order! Order in the court! - MAN: You killed him!
- I saw him in his coffin... - Please remove that young man now.
He was my dad, and now he's gone!
I'm now instructing each and every one of you to disregard that outburst
and to not let it influence your opinions on this case.
FRANK: I did that.
Right?
That kid, I took his father from him. I did that.
- Yeah, you did. - Uh-huh.
Look, Frank, I can't judge you.
That was tough in there for you, right? It was...
It was, um, hard?
Yeah.
Okay.
You gotta do something for me.
Hmm?
I need you to take the stand.
Come on, for what? Why would I...
The jury has to know what happened to you, what you go through every single day.
After this afternoon...
I don't think we have any other shot.
What?
And what do you think is gonna happen here?
We're not gonna win this thing.
No, but we can still reduce the charges.
Look, that might not be important to you, but it is important to me.
All of them, they all think that you're a monster.
But I know that you're not. You're not!
You sure about that?
What if I find these men that did that to my family?
What if...
What if nothing changes?
What if this is just me now?
Then don't you deserve to know that, too?
KAREN: Foggy!
Hey.
He'll do it. He'll take the stand.
- Are you serious? - Yeah.
Look, unless you have a better idea, I think...
How did we even get here?
This guy's a murderer.
He's killed fathers and brothers. You heard that kid.
Why are we helping him?
Do you think that Frank is completely and totally mentally healthy?
- I think he's batshit. - Yeah?
Well, then that's why you help him.
Put him on the stand, Foggy.
Shit. Okay.
- One caveat, though. - Okay.
- We get Matt to do the questioning. - No.
- Yes. - No.
You're doing great, okay? You're making Reyes play defense.
You... you don't need Matt for this.
- I do, Karen! - Why do you always do this?
Why do you put Matt in the driver's seat when you can do this yourself?
Matt and I are partners for a reason.
There's some things that I'm better at,
and there's things that he's better at.
This is something that he'll be better at.
He's barely spent two seconds with Frank.
I know, but that kid nearly destroyed us in there.
And at this moment, Matt is the right person to question Frank.
He just is.
Okay.
I'll get him.
- I'm sorry... - When we met...
was it fate?
Was it luck?
Or was I a mission?
Mission.
Stick trained me a long time, like he trained you.
He's not a sentimental man, but he wanted you back.
He wanted you to forget about law, your friends...
your city.
He thought I could distract you.
He was right.
No.
Because I did the thing I promised him I'd never do.
I fell in love with you, Matthew.
Listen to my heartbeat, if you must.
You know it's true.
Stick told me about some secret Japanese organization.
The Hand.
They won't stop until they've infiltrated your whole city.
Killed every last member of the Chaste.
- Stick... - You.
We live on the front lines.
Like it or not.
It doesn't mean we have to fight Stick's way.
He kills his enemies, and we don't have to.
ELEKTRA: You make that choice sound so easy.
MATT: No, it's not easy. It's impossible.
But it's a choice and it's a choice that I remake every single day.
Every second, sometimes.
And you can, too.
Matthew, there are things about me you don't know.
- I don't need to know. - I want you to.
I don't care, whatever you've done in the past...
Elektra, whoever you've chosen to be, you're free now, all right?
You could have killed those men at the hole, but you didn't.
Because you're not Stick.
And screw him for ever making you feel like you might be, even for a second.
- He can hear you. - I don't care.
When you were hurt, when I thought I might lose you, I...
I...
I felt hollow.
Now, I have no reason to trust you.
You've lied to me more times than I can count.
But if you leave Stick...
be with me.
Fight this war by my side.
My way.
Our way.
Why are you so good?
I'm not.
Yes.
There's a light inside you.
I tried to snuff it out in college.
I'm so lucky I failed.
Someone... someone's here.
You got company.
Hey.
Karen...
Hi.
Um, let's, uh...
- let's go somewhere. - No. Why?
- So we can talk. - I don't want to.
I know this looks crazy, but it's really not.
It doesn't... It doesn't matter.
Frank Castle's going to take the stand tomorrow.
And your friend could use your help.
That's all.
Nice meetin' ya.
Fan club's here.
Word must have gotten out about Frank testifying.
Matt better show.
If he doesn't, we'll survive. Right?
Karen, I'm so sorry about...
Uh, Foggy wants to walk through some things with you.
Yeah, you wanted me here?
Wow.
Let's be clear.
You're not here because you're a better lawyer or person.
You're here because you're almost as crazy as Frank Castle, and that's it.
So you called me here to insult me?
I called you here to be useful, for a change.
We need to get Frank to tell his story in a way that keeps him
out of prison and alive.
No one's heard that story except for you, because you're who you are.
Why don't you put all that torture you put me and Karen through to good use?
Now would be the time.
Counsel, we about ready?
Uh, one more moment, Your Honor.
Did you read the notes from Schoonover and Lee?
Yeah.
Okay, here's the play.
Walk Frank through his story.
Connect the dots between the Colonel and the neurologist.
We don't have to prove that Frank's version of events is true.
We just have to convince the jury that he believes it,
and he relives it every day.
We can put this guy in the loony bin, where he belongs.
- Counsel? - MATT: Yeah.
Uh, Your Honor, the Defense would like to call Frank Castle to the stand.
Bailiff, bring in the defendant, please.
Tell me what's going on.
Frank's wearing a suit.
He looks better than I ever have, and he's not even wearing a tie.
BATZER: Order.
Think about what you want, Frank.
- Something's not right. - No turning back now.
BAILIFF: Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
Yeah.
BAILIFF: Please state your name for the record.
Frank Castle.
MATT: Mr. Castle, you've been charged with multiple capital crimes.
Been called a killer incapable of empathy or remorse.
Hmm.
Yeah.
So I hear.
Frank...
May I call you Frank?
Yeah.
Frank, we've heard a lot about neuro-chemistry...
and psychology, and all things unfolding,
scientifically and otherwise, inside your brain.
But I just have one question I want to ask.
What happened that day?
The day your family was so tragically killed.
MATT: It's okay, Frank.
- I understand, it's difficult. - FRANK: Do you?
Do you understand?
'Cause I don't think you understand shit.
I'd like permission to treat the witness as hostile, Your Honor?
BATZER: Granted.
MATT: All right, Frank.
You don't want to tell us? I'll tell you.
I'm gonna tell you exactly what kind of man you are.
You're the kind of man this city needs.
Because, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we all know this city needs help.
Needs it now.
Not tomorrow, not next week, not when the day comes,
when the corruption that Wilson Fisk left in his wake is flushed out for good,
and the police force is finally back on its feet.
We need it now.
'Cause this city's been sick.
And the cops, they can't fix it alone, they need...
We all need men and women who are willing to take the fight themselves.
The kind of people who risk their lives
so that we can walk safe at night in our own neighborhoods.
The ones our esteemed District Attorney here is trying so hard to destroy.
New York needs these people.
We need... heroes.
BATZER: Order.
MATT: The help they offer...
and the hope that they provide.
Frank Castle wanted to help, but he took it too far.
He shot people, he killed people.
It's against the law.
And he broke that law many, many times.
Now, I don't like him any more than you do,
but here's the thing, he's not a common criminal.
He's not malicious in intent.
Frank Castle is actually a good man. He just...
He doesn't know the difference between right and wrong anymore.
And he doesn't need punishment for that.
He needs help.
Our help.
That's the kind of man Frank Castle is.
And now, you have to decide what kind of jury you want to be.
No further questions, Your Honor.
FRANK: Your, uh...
Your Honor?
Can I say something?
BATZER: You may.
You know those, uh...
Those people?
The ones I put down, the people I killed?
I want you to know that I'd do it all again.
FRANK: This is a circus, all right?
It's a charade, it's an act.
- It's bullshit about how crazy I am. - Language.
I ain't crazy!
I'm not crazy.
Okay?
I know what I did.
I know who I am.
And I do not need your help.
I'm smack-dab in the middle of my right goddamn mind,
and any scumbag, any...
any lowlife, any maggot piece of shit that I put down, I did it...
- because I liked it! - Order!
Hell, I loved it! I'm sittin' here, I'm... I'm just itching.
I'm itching to do it again.
And you think... What, you think you're gonna send me to a nuthouse?
Some doctor, they're gonna get me to stop from doing what I want to do?
Well, that ain't happening! Not on my watch!
You people, you call me the Punisher, ain't that right?
The big bad Punisher.
- BATZER: Bailiff. - Well, here I am!
- Remove the witness. - FRANK: You want it, you got it!
I am the Punisher! I'm right here!
You want it, I'll give it to you.
And anybody who came here today
to hear me whine, to hear me beg?
Well, you can kiss my ass!
Do you hear me? I'm guilty.
Come on, please, Judge! I'm guilty, you hear me?
I'm guilty! I'm guilty!
I'll kill every one of 'em! I'll kill every single one!
How the hell did this happen?
That wasn't the Frank I met with yesterday.
MATT: Guys...
- I think somebody got to him. - Convincing him of what?
Yelling his way to multiple life sentences?
- You provoked him. - What? I didn't...
- What are you talking... - I had it lined up for you.
We could have done this.
We could have gotten the charges reduced.
All you had to do was get Frank to tell his story.
Instead you veer off into vigilante-land!
Foggy, he wasn't cooperating!
I'm glad we lost.
You hear me? I'm glad.
- Foggy... - Karen, let him go.
I don't want to hear it.
Karen, can I talk to you for five seconds, please?
I don't want to hear another bullshit excuse!
Maybe you are an alcoholic. Maybe you're in a fight club.
Maybe you are sleeping with a whole harem of women.
I don't care, I'm done.
You're right.
This city really needs heroes.
But you're not one of them.
You gotta feel like shit.
Go back to bed.
I can barely stand.
Then go back to bed.
No.
I don't want to be with you anymore.
I want to be with him.
- Don't be stupid. - He needs more training.
The Hand is new to him...
Soft.
Matt Murdock is soft.
He made you soft.
You let your guard down.
Go back to bed, Ellie.
- I'm not a child. - You can't be with him.
Why?
You can't change what you are.
Matthew thinks I can.
And I believe him.
Get out...
before I get nasty.
Are you threatening me?
You're damn right, I am.
Go.
What do you think he'll say...
when he finds out...
what you are?
What you've always been?
Haven't told him yet...
have ya?
Get out.
Aside from saving your ass...
you have no idea what I've protected you from.
I can protect myself.
We'll find out.
Enough with these amateurs. Time to get the band back together.
Head to the Wall.
Where's Stick?
I made my choice.
He didn't like it.
I want to be with you.
The only person in this world who believes I'm good.
You lost today.
It doesn't matter.
You lost more than just the case.
Yeah.
I didn't lose you.
I'm sorry.
I'm not.
How does this work?
You and me?
How can we make it work?
I don't know.
But we're gonna figure it out.
Not now, though.
Right now, you need to rest.
Who do you work for? Huh?
Who sent you?
Answer me! Huh?
You tell them, whoever they are,
I'm gonna find them, and when I do, I'm gonna...
No...
You're... You're just a kid.
Elektra, no... No...
What did you do?
This is who I am.
Do you still want me?
Matthew.
Matthew!
You're okay... You're okay...
OFFICER: I got this one.
On whose orders?
The warden's. You got a problem with that?
No one tells us anything down here.
INMATE: Hey, look at me, Frank! Look at me!
I'm gonna stick you!
INMATE: That's a promise!
INMATE: I promise you!
Right through here.
I see you got my message.
by janjala