“Come on, Frank. That all you got?” Jack taunted as he dodged his punch. Frank glared and advanced. Murdock grinned, eager and excited. Frank feigned left and struck. Murdock’s grin was bigger. Frank had a moment to appreciate it before Jack moved, fast. Frank was on the defensive again.
The fight lasted longer than their previous ones but in the end Frank succumb to his lack of endurance. Jack preened in victory, his smirk just irking Frank to agree to another match.
“Your kid here often?” Frank asked when they finished. He hadn’t seen the kid the last two times they had sparred.
“Sometimes.” Murdock said and shrugged. “I can’t find or afford a babysitter sometimes. He’s with a neighbor at the moment.”
“Wife work a lot?” Murdock stared and then, after a momen,t answered honestly.
“I don’t have one. Just Matty and me.”
“Ah, sorry. Didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“It’s all right. I know I brought up bad ones earlier. You were honest with me so I’m honest with you.” Frank nodded. Though his discomfort was mostly an act.
He had found surprisingly little on Jack Murdock. His family appeared to be long time residents of Hell’s Kitchen. He found the idiom about their family interesting but it didn’t seem to point to a criminal family in of itself.
A few here and there had been in crimes but so far nothing on Murdock himself. Murdock worked as a boxer and on the ‘off’ months did manual labor when not training. He found one wedding announcement but nothing more on a family life. A divorce made sense given the circumstances.
He was honestly glad that his new sparring partner was relatively clean. It was nice to not worry about outsiders potentially ruining his plans for a fight or having to look for a new partner. That would mark him in the memories of more people. Frank was trying to stay low.
Jack was really the only person he was ‘friendly’ with and that was still part of his overall plan. He was getting back in shape and an opponent was good, even if he did stick to boxing. Jack was actually quite good at varying his fighting. It made him a fun opponent.
Jack leaned against the ropes of the ring. Frank took in his profile. The muscles of his arms were obvious even in a relaxed state and he caught sight of his torso as the shirt stuck where sweat had built up.
“So you want to catch a beer or a game sometime?” Frank snapped his gaze to Jack’s face. He looked nervous and a bit embarrassed that he had asked.
“A game?”
“Yeah. What’s your pick? Baseball, football, softball?”
“Only if I’m suddenly a six year old girl.” Frank snorted in reply. He considered the proposition. Frank should say no but he was tired and he wasn’t going to be doing anything soon. He’d get there but on these kinds of days––where he had run himself ragged getting in shape or tracking down information–– there was time.
There was nothing but time anymore. Time until he got to his revenge. Time until he took out the gangs. Time to build up his armory. Time until he was at his physical peak. Time.
All Frank did was go back to his shithole and not think. Pretend to watch television and not seethe. It was a distraction and Frank could plan.
Lay low but not socializing would also draw attention. The loner. The gunman. The psychopath. They would say. He fit their ‘profiles’. So he answered.
“I'm usually up for whatever is on. Marines didn’t leave me a lot of free time for a few years.” And it was true. Jack’s posture actually relaxed, small tension left his form and the smile on his face was genuine. Frank found himself returning it without meaning.
He needed herrings if he came up as a suspect or potential suspect.
It was nothing more.
The next morning Frank drank from his coffee and looked over the morning newspaper. There was a crowd at a new sandwich shop. Frank was eating in the small shop across the street. Greasy eggs, meat, and questionable coffee. His usual.
Same bullshit. Politics. Corruption in the police. Crime up in Hell’s Kitchen. He almost closed the paper when something caught his attention.
RAND CHEMICAL DEPOSITION SCHEDULED
Why had that gotten his attention? Frank scanned the article.
...incident which left a local resident of Hell’s Kitchen, Matthew Murdock, then aged nine, blind from unsecured chemical barrels. Rand is under investigation for improper permits and transportation of dangerous chemicals. An out of court settlement was reached with….
Frank put the cup down. Anger stirred in him. Matt hadn’t always been blind then. It explained some of Jack’s actions, shaking his head then repeating the meaning out loud. It added a new layer of meaning to the odd way that Matt had displayed with the cane in the gym when he was clearly comfortable in the place. He wasn’t using it because he had to there because he needed to, it was practice.
Frank read the article. It didn’t give much information.
Fill 3/? : Frank/Jack Murdock: Matt gains another father
“Come on, Frank. That all you got?” Jack taunted as he dodged his punch. Frank glared and advanced. Murdock grinned, eager and excited. Frank feigned left and struck. Murdock’s grin was bigger. Frank had a moment to appreciate it before Jack moved, fast. Frank was on the defensive again.
The fight lasted longer than their previous ones but in the end Frank succumb to his lack of endurance. Jack preened in victory, his smirk just irking Frank to agree to another match.
“Your kid here often?” Frank asked when they finished. He hadn’t seen the kid the last two times they had sparred.
“Sometimes.” Murdock said and shrugged. “I can’t find or afford a babysitter sometimes. He’s with a neighbor at the moment.”
“Wife work a lot?” Murdock stared and then, after a momen,t answered honestly.
“I don’t have one. Just Matty and me.”
“Ah, sorry. Didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“It’s all right. I know I brought up bad ones earlier. You were honest with me so I’m honest with you.” Frank nodded. Though his discomfort was mostly an act.
He had found surprisingly little on Jack Murdock. His family appeared to be long time residents of Hell’s Kitchen. He found the idiom about their family interesting but it didn’t seem to point to a criminal family in of itself.
A few here and there had been in crimes but so far nothing on Murdock himself. Murdock worked as a boxer and on the ‘off’ months did manual labor when not training. He found one wedding announcement but nothing more on a family life. A divorce made sense given the circumstances.
He was honestly glad that his new sparring partner was relatively clean. It was nice to not worry about outsiders potentially ruining his plans for a fight or having to look for a new partner. That would mark him in the memories of more people. Frank was trying to stay low.
Jack was really the only person he was ‘friendly’ with and that was still part of his overall plan. He was getting back in shape and an opponent was good, even if he did stick to boxing. Jack was actually quite good at varying his fighting. It made him a fun opponent.
Jack leaned against the ropes of the ring. Frank took in his profile. The muscles of his arms were obvious even in a relaxed state and he caught sight of his torso as the shirt stuck where sweat had built up.
“So you want to catch a beer or a game sometime?” Frank snapped his gaze to Jack’s face. He looked nervous and a bit embarrassed that he had asked.
“A game?”
“Yeah. What’s your pick? Baseball, football, softball?”
“Only if I’m suddenly a six year old girl.” Frank snorted in reply. He considered the proposition. Frank should say no but he was tired and he wasn’t going to be doing anything soon. He’d get there but on these kinds of days––where he had run himself ragged getting in shape or tracking down information–– there was time.
There was nothing but time anymore. Time until he got to his revenge. Time until he took out the gangs. Time to build up his armory. Time until he was at his physical peak. Time.
All Frank did was go back to his shithole and not think. Pretend to watch television and not seethe. It was a distraction and Frank could plan.
Lay low but not socializing would also draw attention. The loner. The gunman. The psychopath. They would say. He fit their ‘profiles’. So he answered.
“I'm usually up for whatever is on. Marines didn’t leave me a lot of free time for a few years.” And it was true. Jack’s posture actually relaxed, small tension left his form and the smile on his face was genuine. Frank found himself returning it without meaning.
He needed herrings if he came up as a suspect or potential suspect.
It was nothing more.
The next morning Frank drank from his coffee and looked over the morning newspaper. There was a crowd at a new sandwich shop. Frank was eating in the small shop across the street. Greasy eggs, meat, and questionable coffee. His usual.
Same bullshit. Politics. Corruption in the police. Crime up in Hell’s Kitchen. He almost closed the paper when something caught his attention.
RAND CHEMICAL DEPOSITION SCHEDULED
...incident which left a local resident of Hell’s Kitchen, Matthew Murdock, then aged nine, blind from unsecured chemical barrels. Rand is under investigation for improper permits and transportation of dangerous chemicals. An out of court settlement was reached with….
Frank put the cup down. Anger stirred in him. Matt hadn’t always been blind then. It explained some of Jack’s actions, shaking his head then repeating the meaning out loud. It added a new layer of meaning to the odd way that Matt had displayed with the cane in the gym when he was clearly comfortable in the place. He wasn’t using it because he had to there because he needed to, it was practice.
Frank read the article. It didn’t give much information.
He would need to follow up on this.
Maybe add people to his List.