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"Are you sure he’s qualified?" Foggy asked Karen.
"Yes, Foggy," Karen roller her eyes. "I’m pretty sure,"
"C’mon, Matt," Foggy faced Matt. "You can’t possibly think this is a good idea,"
”Huh?" Matt said, finally coming back to reality.
"I am standing right here,” Frank growled out. "I’m more than okay with leaving,"
"No, stay," Karen commanded. "Frank needs a steady job to keep him out of trouble,"
"A steady job isn’t going to keep out of trouble," Foggy snorted. "Matt almost murdered every night,"
"I’m very professional with both aspects of my life," Matt disagreed.
"I fished you out of the Atlantic Ocean two nights ago, Red," Frank said smugly. "I wouldn’t categorize that under professional,"
"Shut up, Frank!" Matt gritted out.
"Did you even go to college?" Foggy asked Frank, redirecting the conversation.
"Yes," he answered, but made no indication to elaborate.
"Frank completed his associate’s," Karen pressed. "That’s all you need to be a secretary anyway,"
"That doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know much about secretaries to dispute it," Matt nodded along.
"Solid Sunny reference," Foggy grinned at Matt, then turned his attention back to Frank. "What’s your associate’s in anyway?"
Frank mumbled something only Matt picked up on. He was smiling ear to ear, and the freaking Punisher looked sheepish.
Foggy looked between the two, "What was it?"
"Math," Frank grumbled.
"Math," Foggy repeated with distaste.
Karen laughed with delight, "I didn’t know you were into Math,"
"I was good at it," Frank shrugged.
"We’re getting off track," Karen's stern words were betrayed by her amused tone.
"You still good at math?" Foggy question him.
"Yes, Nelson," Frank sneered.
Foggy looked over to Matt, who miraculously managed to go off in another daydream for the third time that morning. Honestly, Matt's crush on Frank was giving him major Elektra deja vu. But that another problem for another time. Foggy turned back to Karen and Frank.
"I’ll give you a math equation, and if you get it right you’re hired,"
"Fine, I’ll solve your stupid math equation," Frank took a step forward, his shadow pooling over the blond lawyer’s body. "Hurry it up, I ain't got all day.
"What’s this about a math equation?" Matt asked no one in particular.
Karen patted him on the shoulder, "I’ll explain it to you later,"
"Red, go sleep in your office," Frank snorted. "I’ll wake you if you’re needed,"
Much to Karen and Foggy’s surprise, Matt walked into his office.
"Matt Whisperer," Karen praised.
After moments of looking for the perfect equation. He finally found one that’ll make the remaining of Frank’s brains scramble. He copied it onto a piece of paper.
"Here,"
Frank examined the equation with a grunt, "Give me the damn pen,"
The Punisher leaned the paper against the nearest wall, and began to solve. Karen watched in wonder as the once empty paper began to fill with numbers, letters, and symbols.
Frank never seemed to stop amazing her, for Foggy on the other hand, he never ceased to scare him.
"There’s no answer," Frank turned to Foggy.
"Ha! Knew you couldn’t do it," Foggy said with triumph.
"No, the answer is there’s no answer," Frank clarified, shoving the paper into his hands. "Seven cannot equal zero. This whole equation contradicts itself,"
"That’s impossible," Foggy raked his eyes all over the paper trying to make sense of Frank’s sloppy handwriting. A short message at the bottom caught his attention,
Kiss my ass, Nelson Boss :)
Frank grinned exposing his shark like teeth, "Everything in math is possible,"
"I’m taking that," Karen snatched the paper. "I’m framing it and getting a plaque that say 'The First Time and Definitely Not The Last, Frank Hands Foggy's Ass To Him.' It's gunna be great,"
"So, when can I start?" Frank smirked.
Frank started the following day, in fact he was the first person Foggy saw that morning.
"Mornin', Boss,"
Foggy was too distracted by something behind Frank's desk. True to Karen's word, she framed that piece of Foggy's humiliation and bought a plaque engraved with exactly what she wanted it to say. In short, Foggy felt betrayed.
"Frank," He muttered his delayed greeting.
Matt was already in his office reading the pending cases that they needed to get through by the end of the day. It concerned Foggy how content he looked reviewing those files, Matt hated reviewing.
"Hey, Fog," He smiled politely.
"Hiya, Matty," Foggy walked into his space. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure,"
"I'm shutting the door," Foggy announced as he did so. "I need your honest opinion,"
"You're worrying me, Foggy,"
"It's about Frank," He said after a beat. "Do you trust him to do a good job here? I need everyone on board to be one hundred percent wanting this firm to succeed,"
"Frank never does anything half-assed," Matt said a little too confidently in Foggy's opinion.
"Yes, I know he does kill anybody half-assed," Foggy sighed. "But can he keep this firm a float, because we damn well can't and Karen has no time to carry the weight of this operation."
"I believe in him, Fog." Matt spoke carefully. "I really do,"
"Okay," Foggy stood. "I'm going to give him benefit of the doubt,"
"Fog," Matt called after him. "Why'd you come to me and not Karen?"
"Karen is too biased, buddy," He laughed. "This was all her idea anyway,"
Much to his dismay, Frank wasn’t too terrible at his job. He wasn’t great, mediocre at best. His methods very unconventional. Frank would rather use his voice to notify them when they have a client instead of using the phone, when he is using the phone he’s more on the passive aggressive side rather than sincere, he sorts the files by case number rather than last name, and Foggy has a sneaking suspicion that Frank has at least three guns in the filing cabinets.
But the real trouble didn't start until three weeks into Frank's employment at Nelson, Murdock, & Page...
"MURDOCK, YOUR THREE O'CLOCK IS HERE!" Frank shouted at the air.
"Use the phone, Frank!" Matt returned.
Frank let out an irritated groan, and put the phone to his ear, "Your three o'clock appointment is here,"
"Bring them to my office,"
Frank slammed the phone shut with a grunt, "Follow me,"
The client followed him down a short hall that lead to Matt's personal office, "Mr. Murdock, Mrs. Tran is here,"
"Come in, Mrs. Tran," Matt smiled. "Shut the door after you, Frank,"
As soon as Frank reclaimed his seat at his desk, he was approached by Foggy. Frank looked up expectantly at him, "Can I help you?"
"I need Thomas Milford's file I ask you to input into the system,"
"It's in the system," Frank brought his attention back to the O'Brien case at hand.
"Matt cannot read the screen,"
"He has the audio program, doesn't he?" Frank questioned, not bothering to meet with Foggy's gaze.
"Frank, just give me the file," Foggy pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Fine," Frank yanked open one of the cabinets. "Here you go,"
Foggy slammed the door oh his own office shut behind himself, and dialed Karen from his desk. "Hi, Kare,"
"Hey, Foggy,"
"Am I interrupting?"
"No," she assured him. "I'm glad you called. I am going out of my damn mind,"
"Me too," Foggy let out a deep breath. "I miss our small office. It was easily to talk,"
"I know," She laughed. "Danny Rand didn't need to buy us a firm this big. It's great, but the damn echoing of Frank's voice..."
"Tell me about it!" Foggy agreed. "Hey, wanna grab some lunch before we get cluttered with our five o'clock appointments?"
"Yes!" Karen cheered. "I'll grab my coat and meet you at the door,"
Foggy grabbed his own coat, and headed for the door. As he reached for the doorknob of his office, he heard Frank's loud gravelly voice.
"I ain't gon' ask you again,"
"Listen, you're a fucking secretary," a male voice hissed. "Just direct me to that bitch Karen Page."
Foggy stepped out at the name of his friend, "What's going on here?"
"Let me speak to the bitch that ruined my life!" The man raged.
"I'm right here," Karen said demanded. "What do you want?"
The man exposed the gun he had tucked into his jeans, but before he could reach for it Frank was on top of him. Pounding his fists against the guy's face. Foggy couldn't move. He was paralyzed and his eyes were glued onto Frank. Matt appeared from around the corner and pulled Frank off of the guy.
Karen than walked up to the bloodied man, and knelt before him, "I don't know what you think I did, but you just landed yourself some time in jail."
"I'll call Brett," Foggy announced after coming to his senses.
"I'll take Frank for some fresh air. I'll bring you and Karen back something to eat," Matt told them. "Fog, can you finish up with Mrs. Tran?"
"Yeah,"
Foggy watched as Matt lead Frank away. He turned to Karen, "You okay,"
"Surprising, yeah,"
Foggy assisted Mrs. Tran with reviewing the remaining of her case, and walked her out the door. Brett came by moments later, and asked his typical type questions of who, what, where, why, and when. It was a familiar song and dance he and Karen have memorized. As soon as Brett left with the perp, Jackson Michaels, Karen sagged against Frank's desk. Exhaustion taking over her entire body.
"I'm really thankful for Frank, but that could have been avoided,"
Foggy nodded, "You starting to regret your idea of having him on board?"
"...no,"
Foggy gave her a knowing glance.
"Okay! I do," She threw her hands in the air with exasperation. "I just couldn't admit it, okay? I mean he's pretty self-sufficient and works great under pressure, but he lacks the basic communication skills to do any verbal aspect of the job. I'm sorry I put you and Matt through this,"
"Matt doesn't even mind," Foggy joked. "In fact, this is exactly how his obsession with Elektra began. You should have seen him in college, Karen, he was lovesick!"
"I can only imagine," She smile wistfully.
"I just hope he does something about his agonizing crush on Frank," He grimaced. "I hope Frank lets him down easily,"
"You think isn't into Matt?"
"Is he?"
"Oh my god, yes!" Karen giggled. "He talks about him all the time, even if it's in his Frank sort of way,"
"I can't believe we are talking about The Punisher and Daredevil having crushes on each other," Foggy groaned. "What is our lives?"
"Entertaining to say the least,"
As if the insanity of the day wasn't enough for the life of one Foggy Nelson, Tony Stark and some kid walked into their firm. "Are you Nelson or Murdock?"
"Mr. Stark!" The kind gasped. "That's not how you greet people!"
"Good evening, are you Nelson or Murdock?" Tony Stark gave the kid an annoyed look.
"I'm Nelson and this is my associate Karen Page," Foggy introduced.
"Okay, Mr. Nelson," Stark took off his orange shades. "Where's Frank Castle?"
"Why?"
"I need him.. for reasons.."
"Real smooth, Mr. Stark," The kid snickered.
"Do you wanna wait in the car, Peter?" Stark asked Peter.
"No, sir,"
"He's not here," Karen folded her arms over her chest. "Would you like to leave a message?"
"Is she giving you major Pepper vibes too, kid?"
"Yeah,"
"Okay, we'll come back another time, Miss Page," Stark offered the fakest smile Foggy has ever had the pleasure of witnessing. "You two have a great day,"
"Wait, why did you guys hire Mr. Castle?" Peter asked. "Especially after what he did to Daredevil,"
"Because everyone deserves a second chance," Foggy found himself replying. "Even Frank Castle,"
"I thought you guys cared about Daredevil," The kid looked distraught.
"Alright," Stark clapped his hands together. "C'mon Peter, Aunt May said we should be back by five o'clock,"
Just like that, the odd pair walked out leaving a very confused Karen and highly concerned Foggy. Before either of them could answer, they heard shuffling by the kitchenette window. Foggy followed Karen to the source of the sound. It was Matt and Frank sneaking in through the window like two drunk teenagers.
"Why are you sneaking in?" Karen raised a brow.
"Matt heard Stark," Frank replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why are you on Tony Stark's radar?" Foggy questioned him next.
"I have them convinced I killed Daredevil," Frank shrugged. "I'm surprised they found out I work here,"
Karen and Foggy share a look, because that explains why that kid looked so broken up.
Poor kid, Foggy thought to himself.
"So let me get this straight," Foggy said. "You have the Avengers believing you killed Daredevil and they've been hunting you down?"
"Yeah,"
"Matt, you're okay with this?"
"I was my idea," It was Matt's turn to shrug. "It's been a great past few week without Clint harassing me to meet his dog,"
"Boo fucking hoo, Red," Frank sneered. "Just meet the fucking dog,"
"You're just jealous," Matt retorted.
"So we should expect more Avengers dropping by," Karen said between sips of her soft drink.
"It seems that way," Frank replied.
"You know what? I'm too hungry to deal with you and Matt's drama,"
Karen patted him on the shoulder and joined Frank and Mtt at the small table, where Matt set down what smells like Thai food.
"C'mon Foggy, I bought you shrimp Pad Thai," Matt grinned.
Foggy pulled a plastic chair and settled between Karen and Matt.
"Hey, Matt?"
"Yeah, Fog?"
"Why don't you wanna meet Clint's dog?"
"Not you too," Matt groaned.