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C204 Spider-Man
🕑 Added 2023-01-02 16:30:50 +0000 UTC“No, It can’t be...” Frank says as he goes into denial.
During his unit's most recent deployment within Afghanistan, Castle was assigned to a new task force under the supervision of Ray Schoonover, a Colonel of the United States Marine Corps Force Recon division, as well as an anonymous civilian commander known to the men only as Agent Orange.
Castle was one of the two lieutenants taking command under the orders of Schoonover, leading the unit's two squads
On that day, Frank sat with his comrades and listened as Orange and Schoonover explain their new objective.
They were now part of Operation Cerberus and tasked to capture and assassinate enemy targets, based on Agent Oranges' information.
Upon hearing this, Frank questioned if the United States Congress had approved the operation, though Orange insisted they had.
The task force participated in many operations, specializing in nightly raids for the purpose of kidnapping, interrogating, and then executing high-value targets of the United States of America, with the squad quickly becoming known as the American Taliban.
Among the targets that were captured by Cerberus Squad included a man named Ahmad Zubair.
Zubair was brutally strung up and beaten down by the Squad before Agent Orange then entered the room and began questioning him in his native tongue, so that neither Frank nor any of the other members of the Squad could understand what they were saying.
They all stood by and watched as Orange began repeatedly striking the clearly terrified and helpless man while wearing a pair of thick leather gloves.
During the torture, Zubair spoke in English and insisted over and over that he was not a terrorist and that he had a family, though no matter how much he pleaded, the beating never stopped.
Eventually, Agent Orange noted that Zubair clearly didn’t know anything useful for them, and therefore turned to Frank, who understood and shot Zubair point blank in the face, killing him instantly.
Frank ended up burying the body in the desert with the help of one of his men, who questioned whether they were just ordered to hide evidence or not.
Despite his own doubts, Frank was a model soldier and followed orders without question.
Soon enough, the dreaded mission arrived and a new target, who was believed to be hiding in a compound within Kandahar, was designated.
Although they were then ordered to go into Kandahar and capture this target, Frank warned against it, believing this was a trap for Cerberus Squad.
Agent Orange, however, ignored Castle's objections and insisted that they continue with the mission objective regardless.
Just as Frank had predicted would happen, the surprise raid quickly turned out to be an ambush as their squad was hit with machine gun fire and mortar rounds, which resulted in Schoonover losing his arm, while many soldiers were killed.
Soon enough, Frank decided that the only option remaining for their continued survival was for him to storm the enemy Fort alone and clear a path for an evacuation.
Frank then charged across the battlefield, amidst a hail of gunfire and explosive mortal shells. He then made his way uphill, firing upon any insurgents he encountered in order to keep his men safe.
Making his way through the fort, Frank proceeded to use all of his military training and utter fury to charge through the enemy's stronghold, killing all those he encountered.
As the enemies constantly closed in on him and the battle continued to drag on, Frank used everything he had on hand, including his opponent's weapons, to slaughter his way through the building.
Out of ammunition yet still determined to save his fellow soldiers and return home to his family, Frank barely survived as he killed the last of the opposition with nothing but his bare hands.
In the end, Frank was completely covered in his enemy's blood. However, he had successfully cleared the whole area, killing all hostiles, and saving what remained of his squad in the process.
Upon their triumphant, yet damaged, return, Frank overheard someone asking for a mission update and saw Agent Orange looking at all of the wounded and severely damaged soldiers, as he calmly and uncaringly asked if they had successfully killed the target as he wanted.
Mortified that Orange was more concerned for Operation Cerberus' mission than he was over all of the wounded and dead men, Frank charged forward and assaulted Orange for the deaths of his men, as it was his bad information that led them into a trap.
As the beating took place, Frank meant to kill him as he ruptured Orange's eye socket after a flurry of punches, though soon enough, the nearby soldiers dragged the furious Lieutenant Castle off of the now horrified and beaten Agent Orange.
Not long after this incident, Frank’s tour in Afghanistan came to an end, so instead of immediately signing up for another tour, he returned home to his family, and a few days after his return, they were almost killed.
“I may have angered somebody, but he wouldn’t...” Franks says as he looks off into the distance in thought.
“Who?” Maria asks, beating Peter to the question.
“A spook.” Frank answers after a moment of thought. “Some CIA guy. He gave us bad intel and got my men killed, so I beat his a*s... I shouldn’t even be talking about this.”
“Well, the Avengers act at a higher level than the CIA or any government, so nothing you’ve done is out of reach for me.” Peter says with a shrug.
“Whatever...” Frank says as he takes a moment to think. “It was only a fight though... I’m sure he’s angry, but not enough to kill me and my family.”
What Frank didn’t know, is that Operation Cerberus was never sanctioned by anyone, so given its illegal nature, it had to fund itself, which it did by smuggling heroin into the United States through the corpses of dead servicemen, led by Agent Orange and Schoonover.
Not only that, but Ahmad Zubair, the man Frank killed and buried in the desert, wasn’t a terrorist but a policeman, who was investigating Cerberus Squad and their link to heroin smuggling.
Not long after his murder, Zubair’s body was found, which awoke feelings of suspicion in Orange and Schoonover.
Fueled by suspicion, as Frank was the one to bury the body, the two masterminds decided to have Frank killed as they believed that he leaked the torture and death of Ahmad Zubair.
Using his criminal persona known as ‘Blacksmith’, Schoonover then arranged a deal between the Mexican Cartel, Dogs of Hell, and Kitchen Irish.
These groups started the firefight as a cover for the deaths of Frank and his family. Instead of the assassination of a US Marine airing on the news, it would be another act of senseless gang/gun violence, which happens every day in America.
‘I need to gather enough evidence to convince him...’ Peter thought.
Peter knew all of this already, as he watched the show in his past life. The only problem was whether he could convince Frank and then help him with his inevitable revenge.
“Whether it’s the man you thought of or not. It doesn’t matter.” Peter says as he stands from his seat. “I have all of the surviving gunmen locked up and waiting for questioning, so I’ll have some sort of proof soon enough.”
“What should we do until then?” Maria asks, afraid for her children’s safety.
“You’ll be staying in the tower for the foreseeable future.” Peter says as he gets some unwilling looks from the two parents.
After all, they don’t even know for sure whether they were the targets or not.
“This isn’t optional.” Peter says and their faces look even more unwilling. “I’d rather not have the deaths of two children on my hands, after all.”
“You can’t-” Maria goes to speak but Peter cuts her off.
“I can.” Peter says with a shrug. “As I said before, the Avengers operate above any government. We can break every law in the book without a single repercussion.”
Hearing Spider-Man talk about breaking laws and holding them captive was an odd experience, as everyone knows him as a shining selfless hero.
“It seems that we don’t have a choice...” Frank mutters, knowing that he can’t do anything about it.
Their little scuffle when he woke up clearly showed him that.
“It’s good that you’ve realized that.” Peter says as he smiles under his mask. “I’ll have an apartment allocated to you. If you need anything, like groceries or clothes, order it online or ask Jarvis.”
“Who’s Jarvis?” Maria asks.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Peter says as he walks to the door, waving over his shoulder. “Enjoy your family vacation in captivity!”
A/N: 1465 words GN
