I've got memories that travel like gypsies in the night 🌙

[oorah]

He already feels as though he's betrayed her, and in his dumbass backwards brain the only solution seems to be betraying Micro's confidence in turn. Kamala will receive a cryptic message, as if Frank is capable of any other kind, suggesting they meet on the roof of the Circle K after dark. He tried to keep the revelation of Kamala becoming Ms. Marvel a secret from her father, he did, but he kept thinking of his own daughter, and all it really took in the end was a few beers to get it out of him. Since everyone seems to be finding things out about each other, he also doesn't find a reason to hide his own identity from Kamala any longer.

When she reaches the roof, he'll be waiting, in full tac gear emblazoned with his iconic skull. He purposefully waits for her reaction before moving his ugly mug into the light.

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[morphogenia]

It isn't something she plans per say. It is something that spirals gently out of the night she awoke as an Inhuman and saved Zoe. As with many big events, a series of tiny ones came to follow. Children and teenagers go missing; the kind few if any bother to look for. Kamala sees a stray poster here and there, but doesn't make the connection. It's sad, but that is a problem for the police. It isn't until her friend's brother is taken that the pieces start to come together. She comes to realize that the police aren't going to save the day. Ms. Marvel is born out of the need to save one and then all the rest.

She is quickly gaining a bit of a reputation for taking down the strange robots appearing all over Jersey and recovering those missing children. She still has a way to go before finding who is in charge and the rest of the children if only because most weren't reported. She feels good about what she's doing, positive Abu would be so proud his daughter was righting wrongs just like he did in Heaven, that it leaves her vulnerable. It isn't until she sees the skull that she realizes how low her guard is and feels stupid.

She came bearing gifts, of course. Kamala has a small box of doughnuts waiting to be shared before the grab coffee or something. She's smiling cheerfully even if Pete is peak drama as usual up until that ugly white thing glares at her in the dark. Her smile slips away immediately replaced with grim determination as she runs his rep over in her brain.

He's not going to hurt her. Kamala is absolutely positive of that. Nothing she's read ever suggested he'd ever do a thing to harm a minor. Pete is a different story. She's not dumb. She knows there is history there; the kind people don't talk about.... the kind that puts him on the radar of a guy looking for people to hurt. Not on her watch. She doesn't care if her secret identity gets blown. No one she loves is ever taking a bullet by some psycho playing judge, jury, and executioner ever again.

"I don't know what you think my friend did-" Kamala starts soft and commanding. If she didn't look like an actual small child it might even be imposing. "-but, you are going to leave peacefully before he gets here or I swear you'll regret stepping foot in JC." It is a very good threat all things considered... until Frank ruins it by stepping into the light. She pales immediately, box dropping to the floor as it hits her once again how stupid she's been. She let this guy in that she knows nothing about, told him everything, and now he's......

"You've got to be kidding me." It's quiet disbelief even if it makes a weird sort of sense in a way she can't put together yet.

[oorah]

It never occurs to him she would be scared, and of course, she has no reason to be, but he especially doesn't think she'd be afraid for Pete once he realizes that's the friend she's talking about. His gaze softens and he sits out over the lip of the building, watching the city bustle by in relative peace.

"That was a pretty good speech," he praises her belatedly, drawing one knee up like he's trying to appear smaller, or maybe just make room for her so they can eat some doughnuts on a rooftop like... colleagues? If that's what they are now.

[morphogenia]

Kamala's shock shifts to anger very quickly. How is he so casual about this???!! She sits next to him aggressively, moving the treats aside as she glares up at Frank. "Wow! Thanks! So glad I give a good speech when I think my friend is like five seconds away from being shot in the face by the guy with the rep for shooting people in the face!" She punches his arm. It's with her normal strength so can he even tell she actually out effort into that? "What the Hell? Seriously?!" She smacks at his arm this time since punching him actually hurts. :( "What kind of screwed up game are you playing with me?!" Yeah, she's gonna smack his arm again. She's pretty pissed.

[oorah]

His eyebrow lifts as he looks down at her punching him, obviously seeing no reason not to tolerate her carrying on. Frank shakes his head after a moment, letting her deal with this part of his revelation however she needs to. It's not even the most fucked up thing he's going to tell her tonight so she may as well get this out of her system early.

"I know who you are," the explains, attempting to circumvent her and grab at the doughnut box. "Thought you should know who I am." Professional courtesy???

[morphogenia]

Kamala stops smacking his arm long enough to pass the doughnut box over. She handles things weirdly. He ought to know that one by now. "There's a difference! I'm chasing down missing kids and fighting robots! You killed people! Like a lot of people!" She hysterically yells at Pete... or she guesses it's Frank now. She groans loudly in frustration.

"Seriously, what are you even doing here? You did that stuff and now you're sitting here with me. Do you not get how messed up that is?" What does it say about her that she's actually scared for him? This could go super wrong for Pete. She could run away screaming right now and get like a SWAT team or something after him. She knows she won't do it the second the thought crosses her mind. It actually terrifies her that he took the risk. She still remembers her Abu running from the car, that loud crack in the distance...

Her eyes well up with tears, moving from one extreme to the other. This is a lot. She grips his arm tightly mostly to ground herself as she continues to rant. "How dangerous! You know they'll kill you if they catch you, right? They won't even give you a trial! That's what they do to people who do bad things! Even when they think it's right!" And she's not talking about him anymore. Kamala has to look away from Frank as she tries desperately to reign her feelings in. Her voice is small as she continues. "You're so dumb, Pete. You could die. Don't you get that?"

[oorah]

Frank takes the box but doesn't attempt to open it while she's lecturing him. It seems rude, even for him. "I..." But his meek start is quickly overrun by her wildly fluctuating emotions. "It's okay, sweetheart."

He allows her to hold fast to his arm as he protects their bounty in the other, but when she turns away he wraps his arm around her slim shoulders instead, wishing all of this could be easier on her.

"So could you, you know." Frank has to point that out because he never would have revealed this to her one-on-one if they weren't on the same playing field. That and it seems like necessary context for what he actually needs to tell her. "But it's important to you, right? What you're doing out here."

[morphogenia]

Her shoulders slump briefly just before she goes to lean against him. Kamala wonders briefly if this is the part where she is supposed to reject Pete. She only knows secondhand stories. Ammi didn't want her daughter getting too into such a violent figure. Even the teen had to concede this might be a little too intense for her. What she's doing now is too.

Kamala can't argue what he's saying at all. "I know, but I couldn't live with myself if I did nothing. I guess I'm like Abu. I can't pretend that something bad isn't happening. I have to do something even if it costs me my life." What an adult thing to say for such a little girl. She sounds so tired as she says it; like it's something she's resigned to.

What happened to her father made her grow up in unexpected ways. Kamala knows just how cruel the world can be to people doing the right thing. She won't even be surprised when the government turns on the Avengers in the future. That's just the price of doing good these days. No one wants to bring evil to the light when it's easier to pretend it doesn't exist. "What about you?" Her wet gaze turns to him. "Why did you do it, Pete?" She should be asking what he did. Frank has been accused of plenty and not all of it true. Tellingly she needs his motivation first.

[oorah]

He nods, wanting to tell her how much like her father she is even while he tries to wrestle with the thought of her dying for the greater good like Micro was supposed to have. It lodges a lump in his throat that he just can't clear and he sets the doughnuts back down by her as he decides he doesn't want them for now. Not when the subject is this heavy even though he could usually eat through just about anything. Slowly, he draws his arm away from her too and sets his elbows down heavily on his thighs, huge fists knotting together in distress.

"They killed my little girl, Kamala," is all he says for a long moment, his voice like gravel. But that's not the whole truth, not by far. "They killed my family- for what I did. For what they made me do. How can I just watch now while lives are destroyed? When I could do something about it? When I've got nothing left to lose and I'm the only one who can?"

Wet eyes implore her like a dog begging for validation, but one who's used to the sting of rejection that inevitably follows.

[morphogenia]

What surprises Kamala as she listens is how much she can relate to what Pete is saying. She didn't need her father to die for motivation to do what is right. Kamala cannot deny that the injustice of his death didn't motivate her to find justice where she could now as Ms. Marvel. It made her hyperaware of who is deposable in this world. She tries so hard to have the compassion for them that her father never received in life.

The questions ring true to. How can they watch while lives are being destroyed when they can do something about it? Aren't they the only ones who can? Kamala takes in a deep breath, closes her eyes, and prays for the right thing to say. She cannot fully understand the violence or death that follow P- no, Frank. The Punisher. She does know a little of how he feels. Maybe that's the price of survival since Kamala has zero doubts that Abu's quick thinking spared their lives that day too.

"Pete... I can't approve of what you do. Killing people is wrong." She informs once her eyes are open again. There's no apology to it. That is simply what Kamala believes. She doesn't condemn Frank either. It's not her place. Kamala has zero interest in trying to play hero with him. That's a job for the cops.

Her gaze stays lock on his, softening as she continues. "You're right to want to do something. We both are. This world is a really cruel place. Good is not a thing it can be, it's a thing we have to do to make it better." She hugs her knees to her chest, feeling so tired. Kamala wishes not for the first time that horrific day never happened. It took something from her she can never get back. Her suffering doesn't compare to Frank's by a long shot. Her gaze is wet as she acknowledges it. "I'm sorry about what happened to them; to you."