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“Hey, Matt, about that thing you suggested yesterday from the case, I was wondering if you had—” Foggy walked into Matt’s apartment without knocking. He had briefly mentioned the day before he was most likely going to swing by before they headed to the office so there would be no surprise there when he showed up unannounced, besides he knew Matt could hear him from a block away, which is why he didn't give another thought before entering so freely.
He quickly regretted every choice that ever led him to this decision the second he walked in, seeing that Matt was not in fact, alone, but had company over. Not just any company but Frank freaking Castle, the fucking Punisher. He blinked once, twice, maybe if he blinked enough his eyes would stop deceiving him because there was no way that Matt would be kissing the Punisher of all people in the middle of the kitchen while he was still in his pyjamas, there was just no way that was happening, right?
He blinked again and his heart did a funny thing when the scene in front of him was still there, except that now they had heard him walk in and stepped away from each other, looking almost as surprised as Foggy at the interruption.
“Foggy.” Matt’s unseeing eyes were wide in shock and surprise, not really knowing where to go from there. He had not heard Foggy come in, which was a first for him, in his defence, he had been a bit distracted, so he all but jumped at the sound of his best friend’s voice.
“What the fuck.” Foggy gulped and stared at them.
Frank had the ghost of a smile on his face before he looked at him but was quickly replaced by a stern yet friendly nod. “Nelson,” he greeted.
“I’m fairly certain I didn't hit my head, but this is too weird to be anything but a crazy dream.” Foggy looked between Matt and Frank a few times.
Matt looked sheepish at Foggy, he shrugged. “Not a dream, Foggy.” He at least had the decency to look apologetic.
“But you were kissing him.”
“Yes.”
“The Punisher.”
“Yeah.”
“He kills people and you're kissing him.” Foggy repeated again to make sure it sounded as crazy as he thought it was.
“He doesn't kill much lately; we’ve reached a compromise.”
“Matt, he shot you in the head.”
“I apologised for that.” Frank grumbled under his breath. “Besides that was years ago.”
Foggy shook his head disbelievingly, he was having such a nice day and now he had to deal with whatever the hell this was. “First Karen and now you. Seriously, what's the big deal with Frank?”
“Karen has never been with Frank?” Matt wrinkled his nose in confusion.
“I know that, I meant she took a liking to him from the start as if him being an actual mass murderer was no big deal. At least back then you had backed me up like any rational person would cause he murders people and all that, but now you changed your mind?”
“Pretty much yeah.” Matt agreed easily. “He really is not that bad when you get to know him.”
“Yeah, Nelson, hear that?” Frank raised his eyebrows with an almost devilish grin, greatly amused at Foggy’s expression. One of the small joys of life was to annoy him, mostly because Matt got annoyed by it too half the time.
“I hate you, Castle.” Foggy pinched the bridge of his nose, completely exasperated. “Seriously? Why him?”
Frank simply chuckled but decided it was best if he didn't say anything once Matt touched his arm to signal him to stop, he had it handled.
Matt stayed silent for a moment, trying to come up with a response that made sense to Foggy. Sighing, he leaned into Frank as he shrugged. “He gets me, all of me.” There was so much more to it, but Matt figured the short, simple answer should work for now, it's not like he wanted a whole list about it.
Foggy saw how comfortable Matt seemed with Frank and how at ease he seemed even though this conversation was nowhere near easy. He took a deep breath. “You really like him huh?”
“Yeah, Foggy, I do.”
“I'm going to need a drink.”
“It's seven in the morning.”
“I said what I said.” Foggy sighed and went to take a seat on the couch. “And make it double.”
Matt laughed as he went to the kitchen to pour him a glass of whisky he had around. “You want breakfast too? We were about to make some.”
“Mhmm” Foggy nodded, silently thanking Matt’s invitation to stay longer because the truth was, he needed answers because the more he knew the more confused he was, there was no way he was getting to work without talking about this .
Matt handed him his whisky before returning to the kitchen to open the fridge, grabbing some bacon and eggs. All while Foggy stayed on the couch silently, watching closely as both Matt and Frank interacted, he noted how they seemed to move through the kitchen, cooking together, working in perfect sync. Sure, they were a little tense, but he knew it was due to his own surprise unwanted visit, apart from that, they looked actually happy, something that was seriously messing with Foggy’s brain more than he cared to admit.
While the others cooked, Foggy finished his drink and took the moment to look around the apartment, noticing for the first time how it was clearly no longer just Matt’s apartment. There were shoes by the door clearly belonging to Frank, as well as a hoodie that was too big to be Matt’s and a few non-braille books lying around the table, a few duffle bags were badly concealed on the corners, obviously full of weapons. A multitude of tiny details that screamed shared apartment.
Well shit . “You're living together.” Foggy blurted out, trying to phrase it as a question but it came out as more of a statement.
“Yeah.” Frank said, grabbing a plate from the counter.
“Right.” Foggy blinked a few times, nodding along to the response while looking absolutely lost. “Since when?”
Frank and Matt shrugged faces scrunching up in thought. “Officially? Not long I think, but he sort of has been staying here since that one time Karen switched the injury jar rules.” Matt said.
“Yeah, I stayed so you didn't do anything stupid like go out and pick a fight when you were half dead.” Frank huffed; voice entirely too fond. He passed a plate full of food to Foggy.
“And since when have you two been a thing? When did this happen?” Foggy took the plate, giving him a grateful nod before setting back on the couch, taking a bite out of the bacon. “Damn this is some good bacon.” He mumbled mostly to himself.
Matt heard, of course he did, he agreed wholeheartedly with a grin and a nod. “Yeah, Frank knows his way around the kitchen all too well, that's why I just let him in charge of the food now.”
“You didn't let me do shit. I decided it was time you got some proper food rather than take out whenever you decided you had time, which was barely ever.”
“Matt listened to you? He loves his take out” Foggy raised his eyebrows, impressed. “I have been trying to make him eat healthier since college. My family even tries to stuff him with homemade food every time we visit.”
Frank grinned proudly. “Yeh, the trick is to hide his daredevil mask so he can't go out until he has a proper meal.”
“He did that twice .” Matt rolled his eyes. “And he quickly learned not to do it again.” He remembered when he retaliated by hiding all ammo around the apartment and Frank's safe houses for a week after that.
“Sure.” Frank hummed. “Still works though, the payback is worth it.” He grinned cheekily.
“I hate you.”
Foggy coughed to bring attention to the matters at hand, he was not too sure he liked them getting off topic until he had his much-needed answers. “So, Matt, this has been going on for how long?”
“Around the same time he sort of moved in. We came to some sort of understanding after he stayed that week.” Matt took a bite out of his own breakfast. “Thinking about it we should probably thank Karen for it.” He grinned, finding the whole thing amusing.
“Huh.” Foggy did not know how to even begin to reply to all this. He did not want to seem like an ass but all he could think of to do ever since he walked in was to grab Matt by the shoulders and try to very literally shake some sense into him. He could still not understand how his best friend Mr-Catholic-Guilt-and-Murder-is-bad Murdock was in a seemingly domestic relationship with the Punisher.
Seeing them interact was surreal. Sure, he had been around Frank more than usual these last few months, or well, ever since the injury jar thing started. Karen had been adamant about Frank taking a part of it too and Foggy knew better to try and dissuade her from doing what she set her mind to. He had mentally prepared to deal with him for a short time only, interacting the bare minimum. He had to begrudgingly admit, Frank wasn’t just the blood thirsty murderer he seemed to be when they first met but that didn’t mean Foggy liked him. He was tolerable at best.
He had thought Matt had shared the same thoughts on him. Sure, ever since they started collecting the injury jar money, he saw Frank and Matt had become somewhat friendly but Foggy had wholeheartedly thought it was more of a work arrangement type of friendly. They worked together more times than not, so of course that had to be quite aware of how much the other owed to the jar, he had even heard about Karen making them pay for each other’s injuries for a few weeks, so he didn't think it weird that Frank had camped in Matt’s apartment.
Okay now that he thought back, he probably should have connected the dots seeing how much Matt’s and Frank’s dynamic had changed lately but even if he had paid attention, them becoming friends doesn't explain when they became a couple.
He knew Matt was Bi since that one time in college when Foggy tried to hit on him when he first met him, they never actually dated. It was simply one awkward encounter and then they became close, inseparable friends, Foggy is incredibly grateful for it, they became family instead and he wouldn't have it any other way. Point being, he wasn't surprised on that account, just the fact that out of all people it was Frank . This was like Elektra all over again.
Foggy inwardly groaned as realization dawned on him, of course it had to be Frank. Matt had a type and Frank checked all the right boxes. First Elektra, now him, there was a pattern forming, he really should have known. He just hoped whatever this was, it didn't end like Matt’s last relationship because a broodier-than-usual Matt was not something he wanted to go through again.
“Foggy?” Matt’s voice pulled him away from his thoughts. He noticed they were waiting for a response from him. They had asked him something and he had totally missed it.
“Sorry, what?”
“You went awfully quiet there for a second. Are you ok? With all this I mean...” Matt said and Foggy detected a hint of doubt from him, no longer the playful snark he had going on all morning. He internally winced, he should have said something earlier, even if he did not like Frank one bit, he was not going to be a jerk to Matt, and it seemed he was failing at that.
“Sorry.” Foggy cleared his throat. He had to pick up his words carefully, knowing Matt could and would pick up on his lie. Could he say he was happy for them? Technically , but he was still confused and wary of the whole thing so Matt might think of it as a lie. “You are happy right?” He asked him instead.
Matt’s face broke into a soft smile unintentionally and nodded. “Yeah.”
Foggy nodded, taking a few seconds to choose his words. “Alright, well that's what's important then, as long as you're happy.”
Matt made a face. “You're not convinced.” He muttered. “Look I know this is a lot and probably out of the blue—”
“Yeah, it is .” Foggy cut him off, fully agreeing with him. “It’s fucking weird and crazy and something I need to wrap my head around that will definitely take me longer than this morning.” He continued, ignoring how Matt’s head started to look down. “But that does not mean I am happy for you, am I confused? Yeah, but I'll deal with it.” He paused and looked at Frank. “It also doesn't mean I will magically like you because I don't.”
“Didn't think otherwise.” Frank said coolly.
“Good. I still think you should be locked up for the slaughters you caused but Karen and now more importantly, Matt, like you. You're important to them so you're here, fine.” He paused, putting his plate down and stood up, walking towards him. “However, if you hurt him or break his heart I swear to god, Castle I will make your life miserable and kill you myself.” His heart was thumping loudly against his chest in nerves, ignoring the little logical voice in his head that sounded a lot like Marci about how stupid it was to threaten the goddamn Punisher, especially a threat so open, but Matt was his family, and it was his duty to give the shovel talk.
He saw when Matt realised the truth of his statement, having heard his heartbeat, even if he was scared shitless, he was not lying when he said that nor was he exaggerating.
“ Foggy .” Matt began to shake his head and try to stop him, but Frank interrupted, extending his hand to grab Matt’s arm for a second before letting go, he had it under control.
“I hear you loud and clear, Nelson.” He said, completely and irrevocably serious, Matt would even say he sounded impressed. “If I break his heart, which I have no intention of doing, I'll let you take a free shot. How about that?”
It took all of Foggy’s self-control to remain in his place when Frank spoke both out of a slight fear, he would try something. Foggy could see Matt cared for him but hearing Frank’s response to his threat caught him off guard, realising how much the man cared for his friend. “That's acceptable.” Foggy’s voice thankfully didn't waver and came out much steadier than he believed it would be.
Frank grunted in response, satisfied with the conversation he picked up another bite of his food and leaned back into the counter.
Breakfast went by in moderate silence after that, no one wanted to disrupt the fragile peace that they somehow created. Not long after Frank decided the awkward silence was enough for him, and he should probably let the two of them talk, so with a grunt he excused himself to their room to get ready and left the two of them to have their much-needed conversation.
Their silence only extended, tension still around the room even without Frank in it.
“This is not how I thought my morning would go at all.” Matt said after a moment, sipping from his coffee.
“You and me both, buddy.” Foggy snorted anxiously, happy the tension of the room had dissipated once the silence was broken. “I don't know how I'm going to focus at work today if I keep feeling I somehow ended up in a parallel universe or backwards land… like don’t get me wrong I’m happy for you but seeing you and Frank together is weird and seeing him not being positively murderous is the cherry on top.”
“I get that. I am not as shocked as you are, but I was not expecting you to find out today of all days, so this is all too weird to me too.” He tilted his head with a ghost of a nervous smile. “We could always call in sick.”
“Both of us? Karen would have our head.”
“Last I checked we are technically the bosses, and we can take sick days whenever.” He pointed out cheekily.
“Technically.” He agreed. “But when our entire workplace consists of three people we can't just not show up.” Foggy rolled his eyes.
“Well, I know we don't have any immediate cases we need to attend, court isn't until next week and I don't think we have had a day off in months, so just tell Karen everyone has the day off.”
“Why do I need to tell her? She's going to know something is off and she's scary when she decides to find out the truth.” He pouted.
“You're the one who came barging in unannounced and surprised yourself enough to want a day off.” He argued, smiling at hearing Foggy’s annoyed intake of breath.
“Or we could just show up at work and leave early.”
“Foggy, you're my best friend but you're terribly bad at keeping secrets like this, meaning she will know and interrogate you the moment you walk in, and I would appreciate Karen not finding out about me and Frank through gossip.”
Foggy let his head drop forward before he grumbled. “I hate you are right.”
“I'm always right.”
Foggy snorted.
“I’m usually right.” he amended.
“Whatever lets you sleep at night, buddy.” He bit back a laugh at Matt’s frowny pout. “Don't give me that face, you know I'm telling the truth.”
Rolling his eyes, Matt decided to not say anything about that. “So, about Karen?”
Foggy was about to relent when he had an idea. “Well, you should be the one to call her since it's you who doesn't want her to find out through my gossip and all that. Besides, the day off was your idea.”
Matt, surprisingly, managed to give a very convincing death glare at his friend.
Frank chose this moment to walk out of his room, ready to leave with his usual clothes on, no longer wearing the sweatpants he had earlier. “Before you two waste more time deciding who's going to call her, she has been informed Matt isn’t coming to work because as far as she is aware it was a rough night last night and Matt needs to heal before showing his face at work, and since he isn't coming in, he decided it's fair to give both of you a day off, Foggy has been notified. You owe me 15 bucks though; she's expecting the money for the jar tomorrow for missing work and getting hurt.”
“I didn't even get hurt.” Matt frowned and slumped where he was sitting on the couch.
“No, you didn't, but at least she is going to believe that excuse rather than anything you two come up with.”
“How did you even know?”
Foggy stared at him in total confusion before Frank smirked. “Walls are thin and at this point neither of you would have done anything about it except continuing your chit chat.”
Matt smiled fondly at him and made Frank lean in to give him a peck in the cheek. “Thanks, Frank.”
“Was nothing.” He grumbled but his expression softened at the kiss before continuing to pick up the last few things he needed before heading out.
Foggy stood there for a few moments, blinked, then a smile slowly crept in in delight. “Who would have thought, Frank is a big ol’ softie.”
Next thing Foggy is aware of is a gun pointed at him, Frank being the one holding it with a frown. “Watch it, Nelson.”
Foggy looked horrified, turning his head at Matt hoping he could pick up on his silent pleas for help. He became distraught when he noticed he didn't seem the slightest concerned at this predicament but instead Matt simply rolled his eyes at Frank, acting as if this was a normal everyday occurrence. “You are a big softie, Frank.” He huffed. “And dramatic, way too dramatic.”
“Matt.” Foggy looked appalled. “He is pointing a gun at me.”
“It's empty.” Matt shrugged.
“ Matt !”
Matt sighed with a chuckle before tilting his head towards Frank. “Let Foggy be, Frank, he has had a long day.”
Frank rolled his eyes, looking as annoyed as he could muster but Matt could still tell by the huff of amusement he wasn't as irritated as he looked. He should probably be more concerned at how much joyous Frank became the more he annoyingly tormented Foggy and himself. He made a mental note to deal with that later.
Frank moved the gun away from him, putting the clippings back on so it was loaded before tucking it in his pants at his back, hiding it with his shirt, along with a handful of other carefully concealed weapons.
“I’ll see you in time for dinner then?” He asked Matt, staring at him intently until the other man nodded with a smile. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He gave Matt a quick kiss before finishing getting his things and leaving, but not before waving a hand at Nelson as he passed.
Foggy didn't think Frank even mentioned where he was going, and he was not about to ask anything when the guy just pointed a gun at him less than a few minutes ago. He gulped, not trusting himself to speak yet.
“Sorry about that, despite what it looks like he isn't actually violent at all unless he is shooting some assholes that probably deserve it, he's a good guy underneath all the guns and mindless threats” Matt looked a little apologetic after noticing Foggy was still in shock.
“He pointed a gun at me!”
“It was empty, I told you. He would never hurt you; he knows you're my family.” Matt’s voice was full of conviction, he knew he couldn't trust Frank with a criminal’s life, but he knew wholeheartedly that he could trust him with his life and his family’s, Frank would never hurt them. Frank was a man of morals, twisted morals, but morals nonetheless, and he knew how much Foggy meant to Matt.
“Sure doesn't look like it. I don't trust him.”
“Then trust me . I would shoot him if he even accidentally caused you harm and he is very much aware of that.”
“Would you? You are dating him.”
“And you're my family.”
Foggy softened at the admission. He had been so sceptical about this whole thing from the beginning, a part of him scared of what would happen to his and Matt's dynamic now that everything was changing but hearing him talk lessened his worries. “Fine, I trust you.” he grinned. “I still don't like him though, probably never will.” He said, half-jokingly.
Matt pursed his lips biting down a grin and shrugged, as if saying what do you want me to do about that?
“You know what could help me get over today’s shock?” Foggy finally said, moving the conversation to their normal light-hearted banter. “Stories, information. If he is going to keep pointing guns at me, the least you can do is give me blackmail material.”
“Blackmail material of what? You know his crimes; he doesn't really care about that.”
“He lashed out when I called him a softie. You could start with that.” He chuckled.
“Stories of him being a softie… As blackmail ? Are you serious?”
“Yes absolutely.” Foggy nodded seriously. “I can't threaten my best friend’s boyfriend with bodily harm in this case, I need to think outside the box.”
“You threatened to kill him, does that not count?” Matt said, extremely amused at his friend’s antics.
“Yeah, but it won’t stick. That's for the extreme situations I need casual blackmail. So, tell me all about it.”
“He's going to hate it.” Matt laughed. “Especially because he is the biggest softie of all of us and he refuses to admit it.”
“Exactly. Now tell me everything. ”