"Don't tell Frank."

VI.

"So should I go teach Murdock a lesson," Frank strokes my cheek where my bruises are, "for these."

I rolls my eyes and let out a laugh.

I curl into Frank closer as my head is on his chest and his arm is wrapped around my shoulders, his other resting behind his head. Lazy Sundays were the best. We were on my bed cuddling while the tv played in the background, Max at the foot of the bed sprawled out.

"No. I don't want you getting hurt." I say as I bring up my hand to glide my thumb over his stubble.

"You doubting my abilities?" He pokes my side and I can't help but let out a yelp.

"No! But come on, Frank. He has powers..."

"Powers or not I could still take him down. I have once." I roll my eyes, remembering when Frank told me he fought Matt and then tied him up.

"Lucky fluke." I say and he pokes me in the side again.

"Stop!" I giggle into his chest and he pulls me to straddle him. My hair falls down around us and he holds my cheeks in his hands.

"That smile of yours is a damn good sight." I feel my cheeks burn and I can't help but smile again and kiss him on the nose.

"It's there because of you." I state and bite my lip. although Frank has trouble at times with telling me how he feels, I'll be damned sure he knows how I feel about him.

"That right?" He brings my face closer to him so we're almost touching heads but I can still look into his eyes.

"Frank, you're a stubborn pain in the ass but you're my pain in the ass. You make me happy, happier than I've been in awhile." I rub our noses together and he smiles lightly.

"But-"

"No. Not buts. That's how I feel, there's nothing else to it."

"I just...you deserve more than what I can give you. Hell, you deserve this whole damn world."

"Frank, you give me yourself. That's all I need. All I want is you."

He runs his hands up and down my back now, occasionally stopping at my hips to squeeze. And Frank is a gentlemen so he never goes lower than that, although I wouldn't stop him.

"I should be wining and dining you every night. Should be taking you out to do some corny couples stuff."

"Corny couples stuff, huh? Like what? Couples yoga?" I tease and he smiles.

"Hell no, I ain't flexible."

"Aw, come on. I would love to see that!"

"Ain't gonna happen. I'd be more than happy to watch you do it though."

"I bet you would, Castle." I laugh and he smiles as he pulls me against him to connect our lips. It started off as a soft kiss and then it quickly grew into something more heated. His tongue slipped in my mouth and i groan when he presses me closer to him. His hands stay at my hips but they slightly move up and down as if he doesn't want to over step any boundaries. I place my hands on top of his and put them where I want them myself. This time he lets out a moan as he squeezes my ass.

My phone ringing interrupts us and I pull away sighing.

I reach over to grab it as I'm still on Frank, it's an unknown caller but I answer anyways.

"Hello?"

"Hi, yes, is this Emma Andrews?"A woman's voice comes through the phone.

"Yes, this is her. May I ask who's calling?" Frank raises his eyebrows but I shrug.

"This is Special Agent Madani with the FBI. I know this might seem strange but is there anyway we could set up a time to talk?" My heart drops into my stomach and it's like Frank could tell as he sits up with me on his lap.

"Can I ask what this is about?"

"I think it's best to talk in person."

"I'm sorry, but did I do something wrong?"

"No, nothing of the sorts. Look, there's certain...reasons I can not discuss over the phone. I promise this will be worth your time." Her last sentence makes me feel like she knows something I don't.

"Um...yeah, I guess that would be fine."

"Are you familiar with the diner off 15th?" She asks.

"Yeah, I am. It's a bit out of my way."

"Then it's perfect." That confuses me even more but I don't ask why it's a good thing its out of my way.

"4pm, tomorrow?" She asks.

"Uh, yeah, that works."

"See you then." She then hangs up. I pull the phone away still confused.

"Who was that?" Frank asks me as he pushes hair out of my face.

My thoughts swirl with why Agent Madani would want to talk to me. David briefly explained to me that he sent her the video of Frank executing an agent and then he sent it to frank, part of me wants to believe she's on our side then because David said he had been monitoring her movements, she was trying to get to the bottom of what happened because the agent Frank executed was her partner. From what David had told me, she was trying to find out who gave the orders, what the bigger picture was. Frank was not too keen on the idea of Madani though, I think he even thought of her as someone who couldn't be trusted, whether it's because he was on the other side of that trigger or because he firmly believes she's not to be trusted, I don't know.

"One of Matt's old associates, she just wants to go over some stuff from the closing of the firm and get my signature on some numbers." I explain. I bite my tongue after realizing how easy it was for me to lie to Frank. I didn't want to, but I know him, he wouldn't want me to meet up with her and if anything since he's so paranoid he might think it's a trap. Hell, maybe it is. Maybe somehow she knows Frank is alive and I've had contact with him. If the DA found out then a special agent would have no problem.

"You asked if you did something wrong?" He stated, he waits for me to answer. Of course Frank does not miss a thing.

"Yeah, I had talked to her before and thought we cleared up all the papers already, thought I made a mistake." I shrug. My stomach hurt lying straight to his face but my curiosity overpowered my need to tell the truth. Besides, I'd tell him once I found out what she wanted. After all, It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

"Shoulda told him Emma Andrews makes no mistakes." He smiles and I can't help but let out an airy laugh.

"I think the only mistake I made was letting your ass into my house the first time."

"Is that right? So you don't want me here anymore?" He teases as he runs his hands along my hips again.

"Quite the opposite. I don't want you to leave." I lean in and kiss him again and I can feel him smile which in turn makes me smile, our kissing turns to clashed teeth through both our grins and open lips.

"Hey, I let myself in because-" I scramble to see who is at the door to my bedroom and I groan when I see Jeff. Frank goes into alert first trying to flip me over to put me behind him but once he realizes it's Jeff he stops.

"Jesus, am I the only one not getting laid around here?" He lifts his hands up and I chuck a pillow at him as he laughs.

"What the fuck are you doing here? I'm regretting giving you that key." I huff as me and Frank sit up right on the bed.

"Well, I was bored and then I was hungry, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and come over here."

"I don't have food." I state. I sneak a glance at Frank who actually seems to be enjoying our interaction, I roll my eyes.

"I know, I brought groceries, I was going to make some." He shrugs and I look over to Frank who then looks over to me.

"Oh, hello by the way." Jeff waves at Frank and I snort at the greeting as Frank nods at him. It was actually amusing how Jeff wasn't scared of Frank, the first time Foggy met him he was practically pissing himself. But Jeff had met frank before and Jeff knew how much frank meant to me which meant he knew how much I meant to frank and frank would never hurt someone I care for.

"Want to stay for some fine dining?" I ask Frank, he looks like he's about to object but I quickly cut in again, "please."

"Alright, that's fine. Whatcha cookin, Jeff?" I smile wide.

"I make the meanest stir fry you've ever had. I'll get to cooking." He states and walks out.

"He has a key?" He raises his eyebrows, I can tell he's just teasing though and does not actually care.

"He makes me food so I let him come and go as he pleases, he's also fed max when I had long shifts at the firm or the diner." I shrug.

"You got a strong friendship, don't lose sight of that." He states. I want to question why I would lose that but Frank is one of those people who like to say wise shit and get you thinking for no reason so I just smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it. We should probably go keep Jeff company though, I know it's our day, I'm sorry." He pulls me on top of him again and I cup his face in my hands.

"Don't apologize, girl. I'm still here with you, aren't I?" I quickly lean in and connect our lips.

"Wish we were alone right now." I break the kiss as I whisper in his ear and place light kisses down his neck, he squeezes my waist.

"Yeah? Me too." He puts a hand behind my hand bringing me in for yet another kiss.

"Hey, do you have- for the love of god can you keep it in your pants for two seconds?" I break the kiss and groan yet again as Jeff stands in the doorway.

"I'm taking away your key."

"Thanks for sharing, Bobby. We can only allow ourselves to move forward from here on out, if we stay back there, we will always be stuck. We will always be at war." I catch the tail end of Cutis' statement. I lean against the open door as I watch them. Curtis' group, filled with retired vets dealing with the aftermath of their time served. When I talked to Curtis while Frank was unconscious he told me about his group and where it was at. Just to make small talk, he welcomed me to come by to see him if I ever needed to.

"Emma, we were just finishing up." Curtis notices me and they all look over. I feel my cheeks flush and suddenly I feel embarrassed.

"Everyone, this is a friend of mine, Emma Andrews, her brother served for ten years before dying in combat." He motions me over and I walk over to the circle by Curtis.

"Sorry for your loss, Emma." One of the guys says and they all nod. They look sympathetic but not in an unauthentic way, they know the dangers and they know what it's like to lose someone out there. It meant a lot coming from them.

"Andrews? Like Colin Andrews?" One of the guys speaks up. I'm actually quite shocked to hear his name and I turn to Curtis but he just shrugs and looks as shocked as I am.

"Yeah, You knew him?" I ask him. He was skinny and very pale, he looked worn out.

"I did a tour with him, we didn't talk much but he was a goddamn good soldier." He tells me and my breath hitches.

"Thank you." I nod and try to stop tears from forming. Hearing how Colin was respected by his fellow brothers never ceased to take me back to all those emotions I had when I heard stories about him at his funeral.

"Alright, guys. That's all for today." Curtis dismisses them and they all start to get up. Some walking out and some staying to talk to each other and grab more coffee. I walk up to the guy who knew Colin.

"Emma." I offer my hand to shake and he shakes it.

"Lewis." He says.

"Sorry for your loss. They'll all pay eventually." He says before walking away. I stay there confused as to what that means before Curtis walks over to me.

"You good?"

"Yeah, what's his story?" I nod to Lewis who just walked out.

"Joined at a young age, saw some stuff too young, and blames everyone for his problems. He's not a bad guy though, he's just..." Curtis has a hard time explaining.

"Lost?"

"Yeah. Anyways, what brings you here?" He asks me as he starts to put up chairs, I help him. He mouths 'thank you' as I do.

"Our little friend we have in common." I say and he smiles.

"Should've figured a pretty lady like you wouldn't come just to see me." He says making me laugh.

"I'll be sure to tell him about that." I tease and he laughs.

"I'll knock his ass on the ground, one leg or not." I laugh this time.

"Anyways, I wanted to know if you've heard any whispers about him still being...you know...alive." I say the last part quietly. He looks at me strangely and stops what he's doing before continuing.

"No, not at all. Everyone thinks he's gone and the world is apparently better for it." He states.

"So you don't think anyone is suspicious or anyone could spot him?" I bite my lip. This time he stops what he's doing and comes over to me.

"Is there something wrong? Is he in any sort of danger?" Curtis asks and I sigh.

"No, well I don't think he is. An FBI agent called me the other day, said she wanted to meet up to talk but wouldn't tell me what she wanted to talk about. I'm just worried that she somehow knows? I don't know." I rub my hand over my hair to push it back.

"Shit. What did Frank say?"

"I didn't tell him...I didn't want him to worry and I knew if I told him he was going to argue for me not to go."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"But wouldn't it be better to find out what this is about? If she knows Frank is alive I can warn him, he can leave." I don't realize I'm saying the last words till I feel them, frank leaving? Where would he even go? I wouldn't want to stay here without him.

"And what if that's exactly what she wants you to do? What if it's a trap?" Curtis asks the questions I already asked myself.

"And what if it's not? Look, David sent her the video of Frank taking out that guy, he wouldn't of done that if he didn't trust her to get to the truth, maybe she's not as bad as we think. David wants to find out who ordered the execution and who put a hit on him because of the video. Maybe I can find out."

"Jesus, Emma. You have this all figured out." He rubs his chin as if thinking.

"I need to know why she wants to talk to me and maybe, maybe this can somehow lead to David finally going home.

"Thats assuming you'll work together. Look, she's not meeting with you for no reason, she wants something from you or knows something about you that she can use for whatever it is she's trying to do. I can't tell you not to go because it seems you've already made up your mind, but be careful, Emma. Only tell her what you want her to know, don't let her trick you, she wants something from you, use that to your advantage."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." I say and start to walk out but before I get to the door I turn around.

"Oh and Curtis?" He turns to look at me.

"Don't tell Frank."

a/n:

and there it is!! Emma is keeping secrets... does she have a point to or do you think she should be telling Frank? Also, she's close to Curtis now because who wouldn't automatically be best friends with the guy?? Oh, and it seems she's made another 'friend' lewis... uh oh. What do you think Madani wants to talk about?? Who else loves Jeff?? Okay, I'm done with the questions. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

I can't explain how sorry I am to you guys for not updating. I had no creativity and it was a real bummer not having any ideas but I hope I'm back into the swing of things. I know it's summer but I had two online summer classes and that shit is no joke. I've also been working so it's also been a pretty busy summer for me. I promise to try not to make you all wait this long for an update again. I really appreciate you all and all the love you've shown this book through your comments, they seriously make my day so thank you sooo much! Please keep commenting and let me know what you think of this chapter!

Much love, xoxo