when frank saw how in love peter was with mj, it made him wish for the only thing he couldn’t never have- the sweet girl he sees everyday down the street. when a one wish willow lands in his possession, he thinks he’s finally gotten everything he ever wanted…
frank was slumped on his bed, mind racing with a trillion thoughts. of course he wanted to help peter, peter was his friend.
but something about seeing him so deeply in love with mj made his heart ache. believe it or not, the infamous “punisher” also once had dreams like that.
he tried to drown out the laughter seperated by his thin walls, throwing his blanket over his head, turning over to the furthest corner of his bed. but nothing worked.
with a frustrated grunt, he shot up, and headed straight for the front door.
finally, there was quiet.
he walked with purpose, head low, hands stuffed into his pockets. he could only feel the breeze of new york city blow through his hair, the stuffy smell of the city entering his nose.
the park was empty, not many people would be up this early. only the ones that were running away from something.
a figure emerged from his right, causing frank to look up for once. he recognised it instantly…how could he not? it was the only thing he had memorized with a passion.
your eyes were glued to your phone as you headed towards his direction, not sparing a glance up, fingers typing furiously.
you must’ve been so distracted that you lost sight of your surroundings because the next thing you knew, you were hit with a strong shoulder, finally prying you off your phone screen.
“oh my god, i am so sorry.” frank’s eyes lit up, your voice was sweeter than he imagined. “i wasn’t looking where i was going, i-i didn’t mean to-”
“hey, it’sokay,” he found himself saying with a grin, under normal circumstances he would have lost it at the stranger but this was different. “probably a little fault on my end too, don’t worry about it.”
you breathed a sigh of relief. frank looked familiar, like someone you had noticed before but couldn’t really place a finger on it.
“do i know you?” you asked, shoving your phone into your pocket.
frank’s mind was racing. his face said one thing while his heart said another. “nah, i don’t think so, sweetheart. would remember a face like yours.”
you blushed at the compliment.
there he was, talking to the girl that had never left his mind since the first time he saw her.
it was after a mission one night, the sky was dark, he didn’t think he’d have any company as he walked back to his “home” bloodied and bruised.
in the quiet of the night, he was met with the view of a stranger sitting alone on a park bench, eyes staring into the crashing waves of the waters.
frank slowed down his steps, getting more intrigued by the second. ‘what are you doing here at this time all by yourself?’ he thought to himself.
he watched for what felt like hours as you stayed still, hair blowing in the wind without a care in the world. the more he watched, the more in a trance he seemed to become.
but he was snapped out of it as soon as you got up. he yanked his hood down, quickly walking off before you could get a good look at him.
since then, every walk in the park whether it was towards a life endangering mission or a walk to simply get out of his thoughts, he had thought of you.
“again, i’m so sorry for walking into you.” you apologised once more, giving him one last whole hearted geniune smile before slowly walking off.
frank stood there, his feet were heavy, as if they refused to take a step. with a longing gaze, he turned his head one last time, watching your figure move further and further away from his.
that night when he returned home, he felt off. something was panging in his chest, an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time. despite trying his best to ignore it, it gnawed viciously at him from every angle.
as he turned on the lights, he immediately noticed a small rectangular box on his dining table. not wasting a second, he drew his gun, scanned his surroundings, but there was no one.
it was just him and the box.
“kid? this you? it ain’t funny.” he called out, secretly hoping it was a joke from peter but he recieved no reply.
frank placed his heavy gun onto the table, picking the mysterious box up into his palms. it was tiny, couldn’t possibly be a bomb.
as his thick fingers found the opening of the box, an eery melody started to play from it, making his eyes squint.
inside the box was a stick…?
it was course, light, nothing frank had encountered before.
he flipped the box over, and upon seeing a note, he stopped breathing.
‘one wish willow, what does your heart long for frank?’
with his breath caught in his throat, he didn’t know what to do. sure, it looked like a harmless prank by peter but something else told him that it could be the answer for his problems.
he closed his eyes, “i wish the girl in the park loved me more than anything in the world.”
as fast as he initially got hope, it was gone.
the whole thing was stupid anyway, just a fantasy that he wished he could have. but in reality, the punisher never gets what he wants, that’s not how things ever work for him.
frank was in his usual walk in the park again, with the sun barely up, the only light there was was from the dim yellow street lamps that lit his path.
there wasn’t supposed to be anyone here, frank had made sure, but then why was there a familiar silhouette leaning against a lamp post a few feet from him?
as he took a step closer, the silhouette whipped its head around. without wasting anytime, the shadow started to strut in his direction, never slowing down.
frank was about to reach for his weapon, but as it came into the light, he relaxed. it was you. the girl in the park.
“hi! i’m sorry, i hope i didn’t scare you…if i did i didn’t mean to!” frank’s face was practically twisted in confusion, what was going on?
with your cheerful voice, you continued to speak as you stopped right in front of him, barely giving him space to escape if he wanted to. “i just remembered seeing you here almost every morning and i thought i’d finally muster up the courage to talk to you.”
you grinned up at frank, eyes bright with anticipation, playing with your fingers nervously as you waited for a response.
“uh-yeah, no, you didn’t scare me, angel, just wasn’t expecting you is’all.” he replied, his eyes roaming your body.
you were all dolled up as if you were heading for a very special date at 5am in the morning, that was weird right?
when his gaze landed back on your face, your head tilted, smile never faltering. “i’m y/n.”
you stretched out your hand.
“i’m uh-frank.” he took your hand, giving it a small shake which made you giggle. “so where are you off to at this time?”
your smile dropped. he noticed.
“just you know-” you pried your eyes away from him. “you know. what about you?”
he didn’t miss it, he knew how you avoided his question.
“i was just on a walk, needed to clear my head.”
you nodded intently at his words, like you were psychoanalysing every syllable he uttered out.
“you wouldn’t mind if i joined you… would you?”
with your eyes batting at him, looking at him like he was the only person in the entire world, how could he say no.
“of course not, you hungry? we could get some food if you’d like.”
you nearly squealed at the invitation, quickly moving to his side as he walked.
the morning was filled with laughter, jokes, stories that the two of you shared. frank would never admit it but he was having the time of his life.
although the idea of this whole situation being bizzare crossed his mind, but he ignored it, how could he have any complains when the girl of his dreams is sitting across him, sipping coffee while listening to his old war stories was in front of him?
three weeks went by and almost every second was spent with you. frank never let you pay for anything when you were with him, always settling the bill before it could even cross your mind. all the dates, food, secrets the two of you shared filled his empty heart with something. it was perfect… just like he had wished…
nothing had raised any alarms until a particular night.
frank had sneaked out of your apartment in the middle of the night. he had recieved an alert of something that needed to be settled not too far from your apartment, without thinking, he left. frank made sure you were still tucked in in a deep sleep before leaving.
as he got back to the apartment, the door clicked shut, he pried his boots off and let them thud gently against the wooden floor.
“where did you go?” you asked half yawning, standing in your pj’s in front of the front door, rubbing your eyes.
“nowhere, angel, go back to sleep.” he said softly, walking towards you, his hands on both of your arms as he tried to coax you back to bed.
“i said, where did you go frankie?” your voice was louder now as you stood there stubbornly, looking up at him with a frown on your face.
frank didn’t answer. he didn’t know how to.
within seconds, tears started to stream down your face. he was quick, using his thumbs to catch them before they slid down your cheeks.
“hey, no, sweetheart, why are you crying?”
“because you left me! and i don’t even know where you went!” you wailed.
frank nodded, pulling you into his arms. he rubbed your back soothingly as you calmed down, his lips placing kisses on your hairline.
“you’re not gonna believe me, honey. and it’s not safe, i can’t tell you.” he whispered, but you pushed away, tears spilling once more, your frown even bigger than before.
“tell me frankie! i don’t care if it’s not safe, i just wanna know!”
he sighed, running his hands through his hair. with much hesitation and alot of regret, he explained what he did for a living, coming clean about the men he’s killed, the people he had to deal with in his line of business.
when he was done, he was afraid to look into your eyes. afraid that all he would see is sadness and pain from knowing the truth. but to his surprise, all he saw was empathy.
“oh frankie, thank you for telling me.” you cooed, wrapping your arms around him again, nuzzling into his chest.
now he was the one that was afraid. something wasn’t right.
frank took your hand and led you to the sofa, sitting you down. immediately when he sat down, you scooched closer towards him, closing the gap between your bodies.
“are you feeling okay, y/n?” he asked, care and worry in his tone. he placed the back of his hand on your forehead, feeling for any signs of a fever.
you leaned into his touched. “of course, i’m always okay if you’re here… i love you frank.”
for a moment he swore his heart stopped beating.
“i love you more than anything in the whole world.”
he knew something was up. even if he was desperately in love with you right then and there in that moment, something didn’t add up.
“how do you know you love me?” he questioned, his fingers dropping from your forehead to tarce your face. he watched as you savoured his touch, like a puppy that had longed to be touched by its owner.
“i don’t know, just woke up one day and knew i did.”
‘what does your heart long for frank?’
“we gotta go, baby.” he said, pulling away from you, making you nearly whimper from the lost of contact from him.
“where are we going? it’s so late.” you chirped, watching as he gathered his things.
“i’ll explain when we get there, but now you just have time follow me, okay hun?”
you didn’t even have to think twice before nodding, chasing after him as the two of you left your apartment.
in the taxi, you were pushed to his side, his arm draped around you as you inhaled his scent. frank was so addicting, you couldn’t get enought of him, ever. with your head on his shoulder, you felt at peace. with him, everything felt okay, all the noise died down and you didn’t have a care in the world.
it was crazy to think how everything started in the first place. one normal morning in bed where you tossed and turned nonstop, suddenly shooting up with a splitting headache…
suddenly getting the urge to get ready…
racing down to the park as soon as you could…
“what the hell?!” you suddenly jerked up, eyes darting everywhere for any context clues. “where am i?!”
frank tried his best to analyse the scene that unfolded in front of him. “baby, you’re safe, everything’s okay-”
“you… i-i know you, you’re the guy from the park right?” you rushed out, one hand holding your chest, “please help me, i don’t know what-”
you went quiet. your demeanour changed like a light switch.
“why am i on this side?” you chuckled, looking down at your position in the taxi, immediately moving to frank’s side, snuggling up against him like nothing had just happened.
frank stayed still for the remainder of the ride. his suspicions were right. this wasn’t you, it never was. it was the wish willow.
when you arrived at your destination, frank took you by the hand, not letting you out of his side.
reaching the front door of the highest level, you took a good look around. it was an attic, a really rundown one. almost looked as if no one had been living here for the past decade.
the front door creaked open.
“frank? what are you doing here, how did you find me?” a young boys voice echoed through the hallway.
“no time, kid. i need your help right now.” you heard him say, pushing through the entrance.
just as you opened your mouth to answer, you felt something sharp against your neck. suddenly everything was starting to blur. you felt your legs give up on you, your breath shortening as dark spots began to cloud your vision. “frankie what’s going on-”
when you came to, your felt a tug on your arms and legs. you tried to move but couldn’t, something was holding you down.
your eyes shot open, looking down at your feet, you saw ropes binding them together. “what the”
“don’t fight it y/n, please, this is harder than it looks already for me.” you knew that voice.
“what is this, frank? i don’t understand-” you cried, yanking against the ropes behind your back.
“frank, i’m gonna need more time to figure out what’s inside of her.” peter said, joining frank as he stood before you, his hands folded against his chest.
“i-inside me?” you choked, “frankie, did you do this to me?”
there was an instant wave of guilt that overwhelmed him. he shook his head, kneeling down in front of you. “you don’t love me, y/n. this isn’t you talking.”
you shook your head violently. “no no no no no i do, i love you so much frank.”
all he did was offer you a sad smile, tucking a strand of stray hair behind your ear.
“we got a message from jean-it says, ‘having fun with your girl?”
i saw this brilliant idea somewhere i can’t remember but i love this crossover & i loved the two movies
