SUNSHINE [Frank Castle]

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - ACCEPTANCE

Charlotte sped as fast as she could back to David's. Frank was injured, badly, and she didn't know how well he could fix himself. No, she wasn't a doctor herself, but it was definitely safer than having him do it himself. David certainly couldn't do anything, he got sick even glancing at blood.

She thought the worst, of course. That he'd bled out because she wasn't there, that he was almost dead. But when she got to David's and entered the building, she found him sitting down with his shirt off and his wounds patched.

"Jesus, Frank, are you okay? I got here as fast as I could, but the hospital kept me all afternoon and then I had to go for questioning."

She walked over to him and took his face in her hands, inspecting him to be sure that he was okay.

"I'm okay, Sunshine. How's your shoulder?" He stood up and pulled her jacket away from her shoulder to check.

"Fine. As soon as they took the bullet out I started healing. That was a hard one to explain to the doctor."

"Oh yeah?" He smirked and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "What'd you say?"

She slipped into the exact voice and persona that she'd used on the doctor. Light, airy, confused. "Oh, Doctor, I have no idea. Maybe the wound wasn't that bad after all. But what would I know?" She made the classic clueless and helpless girl face and bit her lip.

"It was a guy, then?" He assumed.

"You bet."

"He fall for it?"

"You bet," she repeated.

"'Atta girl," he praised, leaning down to kiss her. She let him, humming contentedly against his lips.

When they pulled away she was smiling, genuinely, and it felt good. She was almost happy, and that felt odd. Odd, but also nice.

"So," she said, "what exactly happened to you at the hotel?"

"Billy happened."

Her eyes widened. "Russo?" When he nodded, she felt sick to her stomach. In her head, three words repeated over and over on a loop.

It's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault. Finally, those words spilled from her lips, even though she didn't mean for it to.

"It's my fault," she muttered. "It's my fault that you got hurt."

"What're you talking about?"

"I trusted him, I said that he was okay, and he slipped right under my radar. And now you got hurt and it's my fault because I trusted that he wouldn't hurt you. I trusted that he cared about you. Frank, I—"

"It's not your fault," he stopped her, cupping her cheeks in his hands. "It's not. Don't think like that. It's my fault, okay? Nobody else's."

"If you had died, Frank. . ." She shook her head at the thought. "That'd be on me. No matter what or how it happened."

"I'm all right, Sunshine. I'm not dying anytime soon."

"You don't know that." And that, was the undeniable truth. So many people tried to kill him on a daily basis that they didn't know if he would die the next day, the next month, the next year.

He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by David entering the room. "Hey, break it up. We've got more important things to do."

Charlotte sighed in annoyance, but was inclined to agree. "He's probably right."

They reluctantly broke apart and made their way over to David. "So, I—" David began, cutting himself off at the sight of something he saw on his screens.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked. She and Frank moved closer to peer over his shoulder at the footage. It was delayed footage depicting David's family being captured. His wife and son were taken, but it seemed that his daughter got away.

"They're going to be coming for us," she then said. "They'll find out where we are."

"What's the plan?" David asked, looking to her. A long breath left her lips.

"Okay. David, go talk to your daughter. Be careful. Frank and I are staying here to wait for them."

"But—" David interrupted, only for Charlotte to silence him.

"No buts. Just go." He obeyed, leaving Frank and Charlotte alone. Ske turned to him, her expression solemn. "Russo might be here. Are you ready for that?"

"I'll be fine." He paused then, mulling over his next words. "These men that are coming. . . they're gonna have to die."

She knew what he was saying. She also had always known that there would come a day when she would have to let the Black Widow out for good. It was part of her. She was just as much the Black Widow as Charlotte Romanoff. She had always known that one day, she would have to embrace it. That one day, she might have to kill again.

That day had come sooner than she had hoped.

"It's time to be who I am instead of being afraid of it," she said. "It's time to embrace it. To stop letting what happened to me dictate my life. I'm the Black Widow. I'm a killer, and a fighter, and I'm going to accept it."

She took a breath. It felt good to say it aloud. "So yes, those men will have to die. But it will be because I believe they should. Because they're bad men. Not because I was told to, or because it's part of some sick and twisted training exercise."

Because Billy Russo was coming after not only her but Frank, David, and David's family. They were like her family, and no one got to threaten her family and get away with it.

He took a moment to let her sit in her words, to fully absorb them. Then he brought his hand up to caress her cheek, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "'M proud of you, Sunshine. Remember what I said?"

"'You're more than what they made you,'" she quoted. "I know that. I have to know that."

"If you ever don't wanna go through with it, you just tell me. I'll come and get 'em for you."

"Thank you." She turned her head and kissed his palm, still on her cheek. "Let's go give 'em hell, yeah?"

A/N: I'm so sorry that it's been so long, you guys! I've had such terrible writer's block, and I've been trying so hard to get this one to you. Please, comment and share your thoughts. I hope you liked it.