Back to GatefoldIssue #16 by Mike Hintze
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“Intelligence: Part Two of Four”
“You’re in over your head, Frank.”
The room I was in was dark and oppressive, not unlike where I’ve interrogated criminals in the past. As Nick Fury warned me off, I realized SHIELD and I came from similar schools of intimidative thought. Surely to God Fury knew his words were not going to have the intended effect on me.
“If this has to do with the child prostitution ring I took down earlier, then I’d say I was exactly where I was meant to be.” I couldn’t see Fury due to the spotlight they had shined on me. “And turn that damn thing off.”
The light went off and the fluorescents came up. The room was dank and smelled of mildew and mold. It was probably a safehouse SHIELD had close by to my own warehouse. It told me I was still on the ground and not on the helicarrier, so there was that at least.
Fury was in his clichéd spy outfit, eyepatch and stogie. “Trust me on this, Frank,” said Fury, “Walk away from this and forget we ever spoke, you get me?”
I tested my bonds. There was no give. As I had expected, I was tied up too well. I was going to have to talk to Fury to give myself time to escape. “Who’s the broad?”
Fury looked back at the female agent who had hit the lights. She was easy on the eyes, but had a look of no nonsense that told me she wasn’t to be messed with. I found it odd that they were the only two agents present. Usually Fury had a friggin' entourage everywhere he went, bigshot spy jockey he was.
“Agent Hill is here to make sure you behave, Frank,” said Fury. “Consider yourself on a forced vacation until I say otherwise.” He motioned back to Hill and she stepped forward. “Agent Hill is going to be your babysitter. Treat her well and you’ll be fine. Cause any crap and she’ll kick your balls so far she’ll score a field goal.”
“Why would you care if I took out bastards like those flesh-peddlers?”
Fury’s face didn’t waver. “If that’s all you did, I wouldn’t care. There’s more here than meets your eye, Frank. It was this way or be forced to take you down for good.”
“That’s not good enough, Fury. Not by half.”
Fury walked towards the door. “Too bad. That’s all the answer you’re gonna get.” He turned towards Hill. “Maria, he’s all yours.”
“Yes, sir,” said Agent Maria Hill. Fury walked out and closed the door, leaving me with the woman that looked as if she ate bullets for breakfast.
“I get that I stumbled onto something that SHIELD was involved in,” I said. “What I don’t get is why I’m being held like this. If you cut me loose, I’m sure we could work together.”
Maria smiled. “I’ve read your file. You don’t play well with others, Mr. Castle. I think you’ll stay right where you are for now. In the meantime, other more suitable accommodations are being prepared for you. Just sit tight.” She went to the door herself and opened it to leave. “I’ll be back for you in a few minutes.” She left, and closed the door. I heard a latch slide, locking me in.
My bonds were space-age plastic of some kind, tough stuff. I knew that they would have taken all weapons and tools off my person before I awoke, not that I had much when they took me down. My tools were on my getaway bike, and that didn’t get me very far once SHIELD’s stealth troops decided to pay me a visit.*
(*See last issue!)
I wasn’t going to break these bonds without something to cut them with….so that left another, more painful option. I steadied myself for the pain….and then wrenched my right thumb out of joint. A minute later, I slipped the plastic tie and was able to get my hands free. I popped the thumb joint back in, and then tried to work my legs. The chair I was in was metal framed, with each of my legs tied to a leg. The plastic ties were tight enough I wasn’t slipping them easily. I certainly couldn’t dislocate anything to help me here. I decided to do the only thing I could….wait.
About twenty minutes later, Maria came back to the room. I had put my hands back behind the chair, feigning their binding. The irony wasn’t lost on me that Fury assigned an agent to watch me with my dead wife’s name. In fact, I was sure Fury knew it as well.
Maria walked up to me with a small device in her hand. It was some kind of injector. “You’re going to go to sleep now, Mr. Castle,” she said, “When you wake up, you’ll be somewhere a bit more comfortable.” She reached down to my leg with the injector.
I snapped out my hand and grabbed her wrist, at the same time head-butting her. She dropped the injector and I brought my other fist around and clocked her in the jaw. I normally dislike hitting women, especially if they’re in law enforcement, but there was no choice in the matter here. I just wish I had hit Fury instead of Maria.
I checked Maria’s uniform and found a blade to cut my legs free with. She had handcuffs on her belt so I tied her to a radiator in the room and took her Glock. She wouldn’t be out for long, so I had to move.
I opened the door a crack and saw the hallway outside was clear. It had the same dank smell and look the room had. The door had writing on it. It seemed to be Asian of some kind, which dialect or language I hadn’t a clue. I kept on down the hall.
The end of the hall had a window. I jimmied it open and saw it led down to the alley below. A crude fire escape was available. I headed down it and jumped where the escape ended ten feet from the pavement. The smell was terrible, worse than what I had known New York was capable of.
I headed to the street and concealed the Glock in my waistband. I was still wearing the white t-shirt and jeans I had slept in back at my warehouse, so I was reasonably dressed to fit into the New York crowds. I walked out into the street and saw Asian people as far as I could see. I was obviously in Chinatown. Now that I knew where I was, it was time to head to another warehouse I had set up….and then, to get to the bottom of this business with Fury. I was still shocked at his lack of security when it came to me. I would have thought Fury would have known better than to leave a lone agent to watch me.
I headed to the east end of Chinatown when I realized that the landmarks were different than what I expected. Ming’s Thai Cuisine was supposed to be up ahead….but instead, it was a market of some kind. Everyone was dressed poorly, much worse than I would have expected. Chinatown was not a poor area of New York, at least not as bad as this place was.
I was beginning to have doubts as to where the hell I was.
Looking back, I saw no sign of Maria. She wasn’t SHIELD’s best if she was still trapped back there. Again, it seemed odd to me that Fury would be so cavalier about containing me.
I began to realize how hungry I was. I reached into my pocket and realized that I had no money or ID. I was going to have to get to safety on my own two feet. I walked by the market and almost grabbed an apple, but decided against it. The last thing I needed to do was attract attention this close to the SHIELD safehouse.
I had an apartment I maintained near Chinatown when I did surveillance in the area. I chalked up my missing Ming’s to whatever SHIELD had knocked me out with before. At least, I hoped that was the case.
As I moved farther and farther along, I quickly came to the realization that this wasn’t New York. A banner overhead was announcing something I had no idea what. That’s when I realized why Fury hadn’t put a full security detail on me. I wasn’t in New York anymore and probably not America either. I was in a foreign country and had no ID, no passport and no cash. Problem was, even more then this realization, I had no idea which country. I could speak a little Vietnamese, but that was about it.
I looked around for a discarded newspaper or other such thing to try and get my bearings with. Nothing was lying around. That’s when things got worse.
I turned to see a police officer speaking to me. I couldn’t understand what the hell he was saying, but I got the gist of it. He wanted to see some identification. His uniform confirmed for me I wasn’t in America anymore.
I played dumb, hoping to buy time to make a break for it. Instead, he brought out his nightstick and slapped it repeatedly into his other hand. He then looked at me and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together with a wry grin. He wanted money, a bribe. I had none. This was not going to go well…..for him.
I backed away between two shops so I was out of sight of the crowd. The cop didn’t like this and moved to strike me. That was his first and last mistake. I grabbed the baton as I swung down and drove my elbow into his face, followed by a knee to the groin. He collapsed in agony. I then searched his clothes for money. I found a small wad of bills. I hoped they were enough to get me out of here.
I dumped the cop into a dumpster and headed back out to the street. The cop was obviously corrupt, but murder of a law enforcement official in a foreign nation was not what I needed right now.
I continued to head away from the safehouse, but stopped at a vendor to buy some food. I wasn’t sure what kind of meat I was eating, but it tasted good, so I stopped caring. I was going to need to find a telephone, wire funds to a local bank and then look for a way to find a fake passport. Being an internationally wanted criminal, that was going to be tougher than it looked. Fortunately, I had a special Swiss bank account for just such emergencies.
I sat just inside another alley and ate my food. I had been in worse situations before. I just had to be careful. Prison time in most Asian countries was not something even I would look forward to.
I finished my meal and then decided to find a telephone. This neighborhood didn’t look like it had much in terms of technology. Even a cell phone would do.
“I’m not surprised you’re hungry. You haven’t eaten in 48 hours.”
I looked up to see Maria looking down at me from the other side of the alley. She was armed again, her weapon aimed at me.
“Where the hell am I?”
“Far from home,” said Maria. “If you want to get back, it’ll go easier if you come with me.”
“Where am I?” I asked again. I stood up and discarded the remains of my meal.
“Madripoor,” said Maria. “Not a safe place for an American, even you.”
“I think I’ll manage,” I said. I reached out to take her weapon, when she spun around and kicked me in the side of the head. The next thing I knew, I was face first in a scummy puddle.
“That’s for the head-butt,” she said. “And this is for making me look bad.” She aimed her gun and a taser fired into my back.
Everything went black.
Next Issue: Why is Frank in Madripoor? What's Fury up to? Secrets revealed and twists galore in Punisher #17!
The room I was in was dark and oppressive, not unlike where I’ve interrogated criminals in the past. As Nick Fury warned me off, I realized SHIELD and I came from similar schools of intimidative thought. Surely to God Fury knew his words were not going to have the intended effect on me.
“If this has to do with the child prostitution ring I took down earlier, then I’d say I was exactly where I was meant to be.” I couldn’t see Fury due to the spotlight they had shined on me. “And turn that damn thing off.”
The light went off and the fluorescents came up. The room was dank and smelled of mildew and mold. It was probably a safehouse SHIELD had close by to my own warehouse. It told me I was still on the ground and not on the helicarrier, so there was that at least.
Fury was in his clichéd spy outfit, eyepatch and stogie. “Trust me on this, Frank,” said Fury, “Walk away from this and forget we ever spoke, you get me?”
I tested my bonds. There was no give. As I had expected, I was tied up too well. I was going to have to talk to Fury to give myself time to escape. “Who’s the broad?”
Fury looked back at the female agent who had hit the lights. She was easy on the eyes, but had a look of no nonsense that told me she wasn’t to be messed with. I found it odd that they were the only two agents present. Usually Fury had a friggin' entourage everywhere he went, bigshot spy jockey he was.
“Agent Hill is here to make sure you behave, Frank,” said Fury. “Consider yourself on a forced vacation until I say otherwise.” He motioned back to Hill and she stepped forward. “Agent Hill is going to be your babysitter. Treat her well and you’ll be fine. Cause any crap and she’ll kick your balls so far she’ll score a field goal.”
“Why would you care if I took out bastards like those flesh-peddlers?”
Fury’s face didn’t waver. “If that’s all you did, I wouldn’t care. There’s more here than meets your eye, Frank. It was this way or be forced to take you down for good.”
“That’s not good enough, Fury. Not by half.”
Fury walked towards the door. “Too bad. That’s all the answer you’re gonna get.” He turned towards Hill. “Maria, he’s all yours.”
“Yes, sir,” said Agent Maria Hill. Fury walked out and closed the door, leaving me with the woman that looked as if she ate bullets for breakfast.
“I get that I stumbled onto something that SHIELD was involved in,” I said. “What I don’t get is why I’m being held like this. If you cut me loose, I’m sure we could work together.”
Maria smiled. “I’ve read your file. You don’t play well with others, Mr. Castle. I think you’ll stay right where you are for now. In the meantime, other more suitable accommodations are being prepared for you. Just sit tight.” She went to the door herself and opened it to leave. “I’ll be back for you in a few minutes.” She left, and closed the door. I heard a latch slide, locking me in.
My bonds were space-age plastic of some kind, tough stuff. I knew that they would have taken all weapons and tools off my person before I awoke, not that I had much when they took me down. My tools were on my getaway bike, and that didn’t get me very far once SHIELD’s stealth troops decided to pay me a visit.*
(*See last issue!)
I wasn’t going to break these bonds without something to cut them with….so that left another, more painful option. I steadied myself for the pain….and then wrenched my right thumb out of joint. A minute later, I slipped the plastic tie and was able to get my hands free. I popped the thumb joint back in, and then tried to work my legs. The chair I was in was metal framed, with each of my legs tied to a leg. The plastic ties were tight enough I wasn’t slipping them easily. I certainly couldn’t dislocate anything to help me here. I decided to do the only thing I could….wait.
About twenty minutes later, Maria came back to the room. I had put my hands back behind the chair, feigning their binding. The irony wasn’t lost on me that Fury assigned an agent to watch me with my dead wife’s name. In fact, I was sure Fury knew it as well.
Maria walked up to me with a small device in her hand. It was some kind of injector. “You’re going to go to sleep now, Mr. Castle,” she said, “When you wake up, you’ll be somewhere a bit more comfortable.” She reached down to my leg with the injector.
I snapped out my hand and grabbed her wrist, at the same time head-butting her. She dropped the injector and I brought my other fist around and clocked her in the jaw. I normally dislike hitting women, especially if they’re in law enforcement, but there was no choice in the matter here. I just wish I had hit Fury instead of Maria.
I checked Maria’s uniform and found a blade to cut my legs free with. She had handcuffs on her belt so I tied her to a radiator in the room and took her Glock. She wouldn’t be out for long, so I had to move.
I opened the door a crack and saw the hallway outside was clear. It had the same dank smell and look the room had. The door had writing on it. It seemed to be Asian of some kind, which dialect or language I hadn’t a clue. I kept on down the hall.
The end of the hall had a window. I jimmied it open and saw it led down to the alley below. A crude fire escape was available. I headed down it and jumped where the escape ended ten feet from the pavement. The smell was terrible, worse than what I had known New York was capable of.
I headed to the street and concealed the Glock in my waistband. I was still wearing the white t-shirt and jeans I had slept in back at my warehouse, so I was reasonably dressed to fit into the New York crowds. I walked out into the street and saw Asian people as far as I could see. I was obviously in Chinatown. Now that I knew where I was, it was time to head to another warehouse I had set up….and then, to get to the bottom of this business with Fury. I was still shocked at his lack of security when it came to me. I would have thought Fury would have known better than to leave a lone agent to watch me.
I headed to the east end of Chinatown when I realized that the landmarks were different than what I expected. Ming’s Thai Cuisine was supposed to be up ahead….but instead, it was a market of some kind. Everyone was dressed poorly, much worse than I would have expected. Chinatown was not a poor area of New York, at least not as bad as this place was.
I was beginning to have doubts as to where the hell I was.
Looking back, I saw no sign of Maria. She wasn’t SHIELD’s best if she was still trapped back there. Again, it seemed odd to me that Fury would be so cavalier about containing me.
I began to realize how hungry I was. I reached into my pocket and realized that I had no money or ID. I was going to have to get to safety on my own two feet. I walked by the market and almost grabbed an apple, but decided against it. The last thing I needed to do was attract attention this close to the SHIELD safehouse.
I had an apartment I maintained near Chinatown when I did surveillance in the area. I chalked up my missing Ming’s to whatever SHIELD had knocked me out with before. At least, I hoped that was the case.
As I moved farther and farther along, I quickly came to the realization that this wasn’t New York. A banner overhead was announcing something I had no idea what. That’s when I realized why Fury hadn’t put a full security detail on me. I wasn’t in New York anymore and probably not America either. I was in a foreign country and had no ID, no passport and no cash. Problem was, even more then this realization, I had no idea which country. I could speak a little Vietnamese, but that was about it.
I looked around for a discarded newspaper or other such thing to try and get my bearings with. Nothing was lying around. That’s when things got worse.
I turned to see a police officer speaking to me. I couldn’t understand what the hell he was saying, but I got the gist of it. He wanted to see some identification. His uniform confirmed for me I wasn’t in America anymore.
I played dumb, hoping to buy time to make a break for it. Instead, he brought out his nightstick and slapped it repeatedly into his other hand. He then looked at me and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together with a wry grin. He wanted money, a bribe. I had none. This was not going to go well…..for him.
I backed away between two shops so I was out of sight of the crowd. The cop didn’t like this and moved to strike me. That was his first and last mistake. I grabbed the baton as I swung down and drove my elbow into his face, followed by a knee to the groin. He collapsed in agony. I then searched his clothes for money. I found a small wad of bills. I hoped they were enough to get me out of here.
I dumped the cop into a dumpster and headed back out to the street. The cop was obviously corrupt, but murder of a law enforcement official in a foreign nation was not what I needed right now.
I continued to head away from the safehouse, but stopped at a vendor to buy some food. I wasn’t sure what kind of meat I was eating, but it tasted good, so I stopped caring. I was going to need to find a telephone, wire funds to a local bank and then look for a way to find a fake passport. Being an internationally wanted criminal, that was going to be tougher than it looked. Fortunately, I had a special Swiss bank account for just such emergencies.
I sat just inside another alley and ate my food. I had been in worse situations before. I just had to be careful. Prison time in most Asian countries was not something even I would look forward to.
I finished my meal and then decided to find a telephone. This neighborhood didn’t look like it had much in terms of technology. Even a cell phone would do.
“I’m not surprised you’re hungry. You haven’t eaten in 48 hours.”
I looked up to see Maria looking down at me from the other side of the alley. She was armed again, her weapon aimed at me.
“Where the hell am I?”
“Far from home,” said Maria. “If you want to get back, it’ll go easier if you come with me.”
“Where am I?” I asked again. I stood up and discarded the remains of my meal.
“Madripoor,” said Maria. “Not a safe place for an American, even you.”
“I think I’ll manage,” I said. I reached out to take her weapon, when she spun around and kicked me in the side of the head. The next thing I knew, I was face first in a scummy puddle.
“That’s for the head-butt,” she said. “And this is for making me look bad.” She aimed her gun and a taser fired into my back.
Everything went black.
Next Issue: Why is Frank in Madripoor? What's Fury up to? Secrets revealed and twists galore in Punisher #17!