Defender Material

- - - - -

Walking down the cool and windy Hell's Kitchen waterfront, Ana began to dial a number. Since she was off the governments radar, she decided to do what she enjoys best. Crack down on criminal organisations. Without the governments knowledge of course. That could cause problems.

That day, Hydra was on her list.

Word went around in the lower side of New York that a group of 'ex-SHIELD agents' were selling weapons of mass destruction to make some money after being cut off. Ana knew Hydra never died. People that share their image would still be in the real world, trying to turn that image into a reality. She would be dealing with the lowest rank of Hydra. People who don't follow orders and create chaos for entertainment.

Ana turned her phone off, the call hadn't connected. She shoved the phone into the pocket of her oversized grey coat. Her backpack contained one dagger, she had lost the other one when she dropped in the Himalayas, and some equipment. If she was going to take down a gang before their big shipment tomorrow night, she had to have more than Mystic Arts and a dagger.

She knew it was a long shot. But she didn't have any other choice. He would be an ally. And a big part of her wanted to meet him in person. To get a meeting together, she had to wait until it went dark. When it gets dark, The Man Without Fear comes out to play.

Ana needed the help of the Daredevil.

- - -

"Shit, shit, shit."

Dodging the light coming from the flashlight the security guard waved around, Ana ducked behind a stack of crates beside the docks. She had accidentally scared a cat when practising an immobilising spell to use later on the guard himself. It screeched, backing up on a light metal cage used to catch fish, making it slam into the boat and which sent a pile of tools clanking against the buoy, causing it to ring. It was like a domino effect.

"Just some cat." The guard muttered to himself, dropping his flashlight after catching the small animal scurrying off.

Ana waited until he walked down the opposite way to oversee the incoming shipments before stealthily jumping inside the small fishing shack a few meters from the edge of the docks. She closed the blinds on every window, locking the doors and creating a small spell in her palm that illuminated the smelly shop.

She covered her nose and mouth with her arm, cringing at the strong smell. What concerned her was that it didn't smell like dead fish. She walked closer to the back, where the fridge was located. She let the light go, letting it hover over her head as she broke the lock and swung the heavy metal door open.

The smell of decaying flesh hit her and she clamped her mouth shut, forcing down the pizza she had for lunch. Three bodies, each with a single gun shot in their foreheads, were in a careless pile in the middle of the cooler. They were all men, and judging by their suits, they were important men.

The sound of a window breaking made her jump, she turned around and removed the light over her head. Ana had to hide. Whoever saw her and the bodies would make a false connection. Luckily there were towers of crates in the back of the shop and she dashed, taking cover.

Heavy footsteps trailed closer to her. She peeked over the crate marked 'bait' and widened her eyes. Daredevil creeped closer to the open fridge, letting out a breath when he smelt the bodies. He tilted his head toward the direction of Ana and frowned. He could hear a heartbeat. It was steady, but when he stepped closer to the sound, it skipped a beat.

"It's okay." He spoke up softly, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Ana had to keep from rolling her eyes. If anything, she could do some serious damage to him. She decided it was stupid to stay hidden and came out causally. She crossed her arms, staring at his suit she thought was pretty awesome.

"I didn't kill them." Ana said truthfully.

He smirked, "I know. The guys I've been tailing did this. It took me twelve minutes to find out where they were keeping them." He replied. After breaking the bones in his hand, the thug spilled out the information to Daredevil, pleading him to let him go. Currently, he sat in a dumpster by the police station.

Ana had a feeling they were on the same job. She raised an eyebrow. "Are the guys you're going after selling weapons?" She asked.

Matt's lips turned into a frown and he paused. "Uh, yeah. Wait, who are you?"

Ana offered him her hand. "I'll give you one of my names. I'm Ana. Nice to meet you." She introduced.

"I guess you can call me Daredevil." He senses her frown and shrugged a shoulder, shaking her hand. "I just met you. Who knows, by the end of the night you might earn it if we're gonna work together."

Ana grinned, satisfied. "That's cool with me. Now, let's catch some bad guys."

- - -

"I wasn't aware you're a wannabe vigilante."

Ana scoffed at Daredevil, the pair of them taking cover behind a large fence by the loading docks. She had put on a hoodie and pulled it over her head to conceal herself. Even though he hadn't directly looked at her, he knew what she was wearing.

"When this night is over, you're going to eat those words. Trust me." She let a small smirk slip and took out a grapple and hook from her bag.

He pursed his lips loosely. "And you need that why?"

A security guard, one of the Hydra men she had been following, slowly strolled by on the other side of the fence with his semi-automatic rifle in his hands. Ana waited until he was a good metre or two away from the fence before jumping over and landing soundlessly. Daredevil kneeled and watched the picture play. He was impressed when she wrapped the wire around his throat and disarmed him, dragging his unconscious body behind a shipment container.

She motioned for him to follow after it was all clear. When he made no move, she threw him a look, before making large gestures with her hands. "Red, come on." She whispered, enough for him to hear.

He was too busy trying to hear for any guards close by before her voice snapped him out of his state. He followed her over the fence and decided it was his time to show off. Two guards were coming out of the office, both with rifles in their grip, and they went off in the same direction, breaking off to circle around the gates. One was headed for Ana's location while the other went near Daredevil.

Daredevil understood that Ana wanted a stealth infiltration and did a simple tackle from behind, smashing his head into the concrete. Three times. Ana thought once was enough but shrugged it off.

It began to rain. Ana did a small spell, a trio of golden hexes appearing on her guards' head. A sleeper spell. He slumped to the ground and she grabbed his boots, dragging him into the shipment container with the others. She patted them down for any more weapons and removed a bunch of explosives. A plan came to mind and she shoved all the weapons in the bag attached to one of the men. She hauled it over her shoulder and caught Daredevil giving her a puzzled look. Well, his lips were gently upturned into a frown, his mask covered the rest of his head.

"I'm going to light the place up afterwards. Can't risk the weapons getting into the wrong hands." She said. The weapons shouldn't be put on the black market and the best way to get rid of them was to destroy them.

"Smart. But loud. An explosion that big is going to draw a lot of eyes." He reasoned, joining her. They moved under the poles without the bulbs, easily camouflaging in the dark, heading toward the office. It was connected to the small pier where the ship just came in.

"If only we had another player on our side." Ana mumbled. Just after she let a sigh escape her lips, a gun shot sounded and she and Daredevil froze. Ana blindly patted herself down, before glancing at the man beside her. None of them were hit and they lifted their head, looking at the ship when a Hydra thug slumped over the railings, dropping in the water.

Ana recognised the gun shot as a sniper shot. She patted Daredevil on his shoulder and pointed at the crate above them. He lifted his head and focused on his sense of smell while Ana caught the end of a sniper rifle poking out.

Daredevil sighed heavily. "Knew it."

"You know the sniper?" Ana whispered, pressing her back further into the shipment container, throwing a protective arm in front of Daredevil when gun shots and yells started from the other side of the docks.

"Unfortunately, yes. But it's okay, he won't kill us." He replied.

Ana heard the sniper climb down the shipment container he was camped on, approaching them. Ana expected something out of Call of Duty, a guy dressed in grassy overalls and a face painted with war paint. A man wearing all black — black combat boots, black trench coat, black pants, black cap — with a white skull painted on his chest armour was a cool surprise. That and his massive rifle in his right hand.

Ana knew she was in the company of Frank Castle — aka The Punisher. He was an anti-hero, did good by doing bad. Killed criminals, instead of going Daredevils way and making sure justice was served.

Daredevil stared at Frank, shaking his head. "Of course you'd be here. Do you have a scanner from criminal hotspots in your head?"

"Nice to see you too. And no. I just read the news." He replied bluntly. He glanced at the woman beside him and frowned in confusion, looking her up and down. "Is this your partner? I thought you go solo."

"We're working together for the night." Ana added. She gave him a friendly smile. "Ana."

"Frank." He bumped his fist against hers.

Ana nodded and glanced at the ship, blowing out a breath of air. "Three against twenty seems fair."

"Hardly." Daredevil scoffed.

"These guys have been dropping bodies from Harlem to the street a few blocks from here. Now, I haven't been following them from the start but I understand it's been about fifteen bodies. All that blood on their hands and they ain't even worried about washing it off. They deserve what they get tonight. Every single one of them." He entered another clip into his rifle, loading it.

"My understanding is that the bodies they dropped were potential buyers who backed out. And tonight, that big ship right there, I think they found someone who could account for every crate they got." Ana shared, nodding at her teammates. They accepted the information and agreed with her.

Ana briefly glanced at her dagger attached to the inside of her arm guard, doubting her weapons. Her Sword of Light wouldn't be useful against bullets, it worked best against mystic energy and pure sunlight. But the huge bag of explosives should do the trick. That and her combat skills.

"Hey! Over there. I see something!"

All three of them ducked back into the shipment container when a patrol guard saw the glint coming from Frank's shiny rifle as the dormant bulb over their heads decided to work again. Ana stood in front of them, making Frank glance at her puzzled.

"What are you gonna do when they get here? Flirt with them till death?"

Ana, though mildly insulted, smiled. Meekly. Once the guard that had given up their hideout walked into their vision, Ana tore the door of the container off its hinges and threw it at the guard. It scraped against the gravel, gaining the attention of half of the Hydra agents.

Baffled by her strength, Frank turned pink.

Daredevil grinned beside him.

Ana hoped that wouldn't be in any police report.

She carried the bag of explosives over her shoulder and gave them an urgent look. "Come on. If we're gonna take them down, now is the time." She said before running toward the office and docks.

And as soon as she did, gun fire rained down on her. Good thing she had a man with a gun on her side. The Punisher made sure her six was covered as Daredevil took the high ground and jumped from container to container, getting closer to the shipments. Ana threw her dagger to a close Hydra agent, stabbing him in the knee before swinging a stiff fist into his face. She held out her hand and the dagger flew back in, the magnet allowing it to detach from the knee cap.

Quickly salvaging more explosives on the downed men, she hurried to the crates filled with stolen weapons. Daredevil beat down the four men gaining up on him and Frank pulled out two pistols. He shot the guys still on the ship carrying the big guns, effectively lessening their chances of being shot.

Ana cracked open the crate and shook her head, disappointed. Half of the promised stock was there meaning the other half was already sold someplace else. Still, she dropped a couple of IEDs inside and scattered the rest at the bottom of the crate. She would ask Frank to shoot it once they were clear.

When she finished, she heard Daredevil shout. He was caught off guard when an angry guard tackled him head on into the water. Frank elbowed his last guy in the throat before looking up at the sound of Daredevil struggling in the water. He waved a hand at Ana to get out of the way and pointed his rifle at the guard that had Daredevil in a choke hold.

Frank rolled his shoulders and looked into his scope, aiming at the back of his head. It was hard to get a steady shot when the two of them moved around. His trigger finger lightly pressed down before growing irritated and pulling it all the way.

Ana held her breath when Daredevil stopped struggling. Without a second thought, she ran and jumped into the water for him. The guard had used a rope to strangle Daredevil so he was being dragged down by his dead body. His lungs were burning as he fell deeper into the river.

A pair of hands grabbed the rope and pulled it away before grabbing his arms and pulling him up. They made it to the surface and he breathed in deeply, coughing.

"Are you okay?"

Matt gasped for breath as Ana held him to the surface. She wiped the hair from her face as he answered.

"Yeah. Thanks to you." He replied, sporting a side smile.

Ana flashed him a grin as Frank kneeled down on the edge of the dock, dropping his rifle behind him. He extended his arm so that the pair of them could take it.

"Any day now, kids." He said, raising a bruised eyebrow.

Ana pushed Daredevil towards Frank first. He got up on to the dock as she swam up to Frank's side and picked up the pistol strapped to his thigh. He smirked slyly when she accidentally grabbed his knee.

She chuckled and shook her head, "You two might wanna get down for this."

She aimed at the crate surrounded with IEDs and shot twice. The impact caused by the bullets made the entire crate and the far half of the wooden platform it was on, blow up. The force pushed Frank into the river, and he yelped unexpectedly.

He splashed head first right next to Ana and she threw her head back and laughed along with Daredevil. He extended his hand towards her to shake and she looked up at him with big eyes, taking it.

"I'm Matt." He whispered.

"Nice to meet you, Matt." Ana smiled.

Frank broke to the surface and he spit out the water, coughing. His heavy clothing made it difficult for him to stay up and Ana smirked, wrapping her arms around him. He wiped his eyes and sighed heavily, avoiding Matt's amused gaze.

"Don't be embarrassed. You're not the first guy I've carried, Frank."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

- - -

"Hey! I've got this."

Ana had a hand on Matt's and Frank's chest, pushing them away from the ladder that was attached to the side of the large cargo ship. She knew that the buyer, a Hydra agent, would still be on the ship somewhere. Maybe a few security detail with them too. They couldn't have gotten off without any one of them noticing. Ana didn't want the men to follow her on because she wanted to deal with them on her own. That, and the police had been alerted by the massive explosion she set off. Frank could go back to prison if they spotted him.

Matt shook his head, "You'll need back up if there's more of them inside." He reasoned. He didn't want to leave, at least not yet. She would need his help and he wanted to stay with her until the problem was solved.

"I still have a few clips in my pocket." Frank stated, grinning lazily. He had his two pistols in each hand, and he was itching to shoot something.

Ana sighed. "If we're going in, we're going in quietly. They hear us inside, who knows? They probably blow us all to hell. So no shooting, no battle cries, and no breaking bones. Just stealth. You see somebody, just whack them over the head and drag their body outta sight. Unless they're the top assholes, then break their jaw." She said.

Frank holstered his weapons and crossed his arms over his still damp armour. Matt nodded for Ana to go first and she climbed up the ladder like a cat running up a tree. Frank blinked for a second and Ana was already waiting for them up on the ship. Matt went next followed by the antsy anti-hero.

The only thing Matt and Ana could hear was the occasional ticking of the engines below their feet. Ana had a strong feeling the rest of the men were hiding out below the engine room. They could be heavily armed. Nevertheless, she continued inside with two skilled fighters right behind her.

They had cut off the power, so it was difficult for Ana and Frank to see in the dark. Matt seemed to find his way and the two followed him, trusting his sense of direction. They turned a corner, going down a long stair case that spiralled down to the bottom of the ship. Ana had her hand on the walls as she walked, feeling the cool lead-lined walls for any vibrations.

Frank took out a knife, stopping when their was a wave of a flashlight at the end of the corridor. A loud screech followed by men shouting alerted the three. They prepared for a fight, spreading out to cover more ground. Ana was in front with Matt on her left and Frank on her right.

She had her knees bent slightly, torso leaning forward with her fists up and tight. Three men rounded the corner and skidded to a stop, faces hardening at the sight of their opponents. They held their weapons of choice, reinforced brass knuckles. And for show, the leader clanked each fist together, sparks emitting like haywire electricity. He smirked.

"You have no business here." He snapped, German accent thick in his voice.

Frank scoffed. "When I'm done, I'll shove those things up your asses."

Ana moved first and ran forward. The leader did the same and yelled, jumping into the air, aiming to get a good hit to her head. The last two on each side attacked each other. Ana dropped to her knees and lowered her body to the floor, dodging the sparky knuckles going in for her face as his body flew over her.