I don't own any characters. A Series of Unfortunate Events belongs to Netflix and Daniel Handler. The Punisher belongs to the MCU and Netflix.
To those who lost their lives in Parkland and Great Mills, you won't be forgotten and to those who survived and want to make a change, your efforts won't be vain. You are strong and nothing can take that away from you.
I'm so sorry for the delay, but after what happened three months ago, I decided that is was best to wait until time had passed to upload this fic and I hope it was worth the wait for all you, my dear readers.
It was a quiet day in New York City and every one was going about their day. They were so caught up in their own lives, that they didn't notice a black car driving down the street. In that car, was a Mr. Arthur Poe who was currently driving his wards, the Baudelaires, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, to meet their new guardian, a Mr. Pete Castiglione.
"Do you think we'll like him?" Violet questioned.
"Of course, you'll like him. He's a war hero." Mr. Poe replied.
That's not what I was hoping to hear. Violet thought to herself.
The 14 year old turned her younger siblings,12 year old Klaus and baby Sunny and was about to ask them a question. However, Mr. Poe then interrupted with "We're here."
As the car pulled into a stop, the Baudelaires looked out the window to see a tall somewhat rundown apartment building.
"Lo." Sunny muttered, which meant "Do we really have to live here?"
"I'm afraid so." Klaus replied as he picked up his baby sister and carried her out of the car as Violet exited it. Soon Mr. Poe did the same as he finished parking the car. Then they walked up to the main door and hit a buzzer. A few moments later, a gruff voice called out "Who are you and what do you want?"
Mr. Poe and the Baudelaires exchanged glances with each other, they hadn't been expecting that.Feeling a little awkward, Mr. Poe cleared his throat and said "I'm Mr. Arthur Poe and I'm looking for a man named Pete Castiglione."
"What do you want with him?" the gruff voice muttered through the buzzer.
"I'm here to place the Baudelaires in his care." Mr. Poe explained. "Can you tell us where to find Pete?"
The gruff voice became quiet again before he replied "I don't know who put you up to this, but I'm not falling for it."
Now it was Mr. Poe as he answered "I don't know what you're talking about. I just want to know if Mr. Castiglione lives here. I was told that he did."
"Well you were misinformed. Go back to wherever you came from." The gruff ordered.
Feeling let down, Mr. Poe and the Baudelaires turned away from the door and walked back to their car, just as another car stopped. In spite of themselves, the Baudelaires watched a man get out of the car before it drove off. He was a handsome African-American man in his 30s. He then spotted the Baudelaires and Mr. Poe and asked "Are you guys okay? Are you lost?"
Mr. Poe answered with "Yes, I was told that a Mr. Pete Castiglione was here, but I was sent to the wrong building."
A confused look appeared on the man's face as he asked "What business do you have with Pete?"
"I only want to place the custody of these children in his care." Mr. Poe explained.
Violet, Klaus and Sunny shyly waved their hands at the stranger who gave them a friendly smile as he said "Hi, my name is Curtis Hoyle, what are your names?"
"I'm Violet." Violet stated.
"I'm Klaus." Klaus added.
"And this is Sunny." Both siblings said together.
"Be-bo." Sunny pipped up as she waved at Curtis.
Curtis couldn't help but giggle at Sunny's baby talk as he waved back and said "Hello, To you too."
Then he looked back at Violet and Klaus as he asked "How did you end up in Pete's care?"
"You know him?" Violet, Klaus and Mr. Poe questioned at once.
"We were in the army together." Curtis answered before he changed the subject with "Did your family know him?"
Violet, Klaus and Sunny all shrugged as did Mr. Poe. "They must've otherwise they wouldn't have picked him as one of the many guardians of their children if anything happened to them."
I beg to differ. Violet, Klaus and Sunny all thought at once.
Then, Curtis pulled out of their heads as he asked "Have you even checked their will?"
For a moment, Mr. Poe was rendered speechless. Then he grew angry as said "I read that will several times over and I know for a fact that this is the guardian Bertrand and Beatrice want to look after their children in case anything happened to them!"
Violet, Klaus and Sunny all blinked in shock, none of them had seen Mr. Poe get this angry before.
As Mr. Poe took a deep calming breath, Curtis said "I didn't mean to make you so upset, all I was suggesting was that maybe there was a mix up or you had the wrong Pete Castiglione. Are you sure that he lives in New York?"
Mr. Poe nodded his head.
"I know someone who can help you." Curtis said as he pulled out a cellphone. "Excuse me for a moment." He added as he went behind the car.
Back inside, Pete, a.k.a. Frank Castle's apartment, his cell phone rang. He checked the Id and saw that it was Curtis.
"Yeah?" was all Frank asked.
"I've been talking to that man and those kids and that man really seems to think that their parents left them in your care." Curtis explained.
"I still don't trust them." Frank replied. Besides, I don't think I'm ready to look after kids again. Not after that night. He thought to himself.
"I'll continue talking to them." Curtis whispered before he hung up and walked back towards the Baudelaires and Mr. Poe. However, before he could continue to ask them questions a Faslo voice said "Is the resident of Pete Castiglione?"
The Baudelaires, Curtis and Mr. Poe all spun around to see a strange looking man coming towards them.
At once, Violet, Klaus and Sunny's faces went pale at the sight of the man approaching them.
"It's Olaf!" The Baudelaires cried out at once.
"Olaf? Who is this Olaf? My name is Peter Graves and I've been sent from social services." Olaf replied in a falso accent.
"Who are you trying to fool and who are you really?" Curtis demanded as he took in the man's disguise.
"What are you talking about?" Both Olaf and Mr. Poe asked at once, though Curtis could see through Olaf's acting.
"He really is Olaf. He once tried to get me to marry him and killed our last guardian all to get his." Violet explained.
"He's on the run and we're doing our best to catch him." Mr. Poe added. Then he said "However, I can tell you for certain that this man who just arrived is not Count Olaf."
Oh, this Mr. Poe is an idiot. Curtis thought to himself as he silently whipped out his cell phone and texted Frank.
Back inside his apartment, Frank's cell began to buzz. Frank checked the caller Id before he saw that it was Curtis.
I think we have a dangerous man among us who posses a threat to the children. Was all his text said.
At once, Frank closed his eyes and thought about his own children, Lisa and Frankie jr. They were his whole world and he couldn't protect them. He then walked over towards the window and eyed the group. The Baudelaires reminded Frank of his own children, and yet their eyes held as much sadness as Frank often felt. Then he looked over towards the strange man. He had a wickedness in his eyes that most people couldn't even see. However, Frank was not most people. At once, he walked over to his secret gun stash and pulled out a two handguns, a bulletproof vest and some bullets. As he loaded up, Frank knew he wasn't allowed to keep his weapons under the terms and conditions of starting over, but he just couldn't let go of his weapons, apart of him had the sinking feeling that he might need them again someday. Then returned to the window, just as he heard Curtis say "If you really are who you say you are, why don't you show us some ID?"
The strange man outside blinked in shock before he asked "What?"
"Your ID." Curtis repeated. "Proof that you are who you say you are." He added.
For a moment, the strange man was flustered and all three Baudelaires secretly exchanged glances with each other.
Could it be? Could it be that that finally found an adult who would believe them?
Then Olaf said "Is this really necessary?"
"Yeah." Mr. Poe added.
Curtis answered "Look, all I want to know is are you really who you say you are, because I don't feel comfortable turning over a bunch of kids to a complete stranger. If he isn't who he says he is, then I'm afraid I have no choice but to call the police since it's against the law to impersonate a government official."
Violet, Klaus and Sunny smiled to themselves as they watched Olaf's face turned pale.
"I think I left my id in my car. Let me go fetch it, please." Olaf said as he started to run away.
Once he was gone, Mr. Poe turned to Curtis and said "Who you do think you are? What gives you the right to scare off that perfectly nice social worker like that?"
"I'm a former Navy Seal who runs a support group for veterans with PTSD and I can spot a liar when I see one." Curtis fired back coolly.
Violet, Klaus and Sunny smiled at each other. At that moment, the three siblings decided that they liked Curtis and wished he was their guardian.
Back in his apartment building, Frank gave Curtis a rare smile at he staired out his window. However, the moment passed for the man who claimed to be a social worker came back and this time he wasn't alone.
"Who are these guys?" Curtis asked.
"Allow to introduce you to my theater troop." Olaf announced as he reached into his jacket.
That was enough for Frank who quickly aimed his gun at the strange man and fired.
At once, a stunned Count Olaf fell to the ground as the Baudelaires, Curtis and Mr. Poe looked on in shock.
Olaf's troops looked at the apartment before they could do anything, Frank threw a smoke bomb outside and blinded them.
As Olaf's troupe began to cough, Curtis took the Baudelaires by the hand and the led them inside the apartment.
"What's going on?" Violet wondered.
"Quiet or else they'll hear you." Curtis warned as he led them back 'Pete's' apartment.
As soon as they reached the doorway, Curtis knocked on the door and yelled "Frank, It's me. I got the kids! Let us in!"
"Frank? Who's Frank? I thought this was Pete's apartment." Klaus whispered to his sisters in confusion.
"I'm Frank and Pete's just my alias." Frank answered as he opened the door. As the Baudelaires and Curtis hurried inside, Violet demanded "Okay, What's going on? How come you have a alias as our guardian?"
Violet suddenly paused a horrifying realization hit her.
Oh no! What if Olaf was right for once? What if they was a mix up? She thought to herself.
However, before she could continue to dwell on the matter, she was pulled out of her thoughts as she and her siblings heard a noise that sounded like firecrackers. Than Curtis frowned as he quickly whispered "That's gunfire. Stay quiet."
As the Baudelaires became frightened and quiet all at once, they heard the sound of Count Olaf and his troops screaming as bullets hit them.
Violet, Klaus and Sunny exchanged silent glances without each other. Were Olaf and his theater troupe killed? Was he really gone for good? In spite this, they didn't feel happy about it at all. They felt scared and confused about their so-called new guardian more than ever.
Before the Baudelaires could fully dwell on the matter, they suddenly heard Frank's voice say "I don't know why that idiot thinks your parents left you guys in my care or that your guardian happens to have the same name that was given to me as an alias by the government…"
"Wait, Pete was the name of the man that our parents wanted to look after us?" Klaus muttered in confusion.
"That puzzles me too." Frank muttered as Curtis nodded in agreement as he locked the door behind him.
"So, it really might be a mistake?" Violet asked.
"I'm not sure, but I think I know someone in the government who can help clear this all up." Frank answered.
Awhile later, the Baudelaires, Curtis and Frank found themselves sitting in the waiting room of the New York Homeland security branch. In spite of the fact, that they knew that they weren't in trouble, Violet, Klaus and Sunny couldn't help but feel like they were.
Then they heard a voice call out "Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire?"
All three Baudelaires looked up to see a tall beautiful woman of Middle Eastern descent walking towards them.
"My name is Dinah Maldani and I need to ask you guys a couple of questions separately." She said.
Violet, Klaus and Sunny exchanged glances with each other, they didn't like to be separated for long. Violet placed Sunny into Klaus's arms before she got up from her seat and followed Maldani to her office. Once they were inside, Maldani said "Take a seat."
Violet did as the Homeland security officer said and made herself comfortable in the chair that was in front of her desk.
"What were you and your siblings doing at Pete's apartment?" Maldani asked.
"We and Mr. Poe thought that he was our new guardian." Violet started to say, but Maldani interrupted with "Why would and Mr. Poe think Pete was your new guardian? Also, why would he bring you to your guardian's house instead of a social worker?"
"Is he okay?" Violet wondered.
"Has nobody told you and your siblings yet?" Maldani questioned with a look of shock on her face.
"Told us what?" Violet asked as a feeling of dread appeared in her stomach.
Maldani took a deep breath as she said "Mr. Poe didn't survive the shootout."
Violet let out a gasp of shock, on some level she wasn't surprised that this happened, but she didn't want to believe it.
Finding her courage, the eldest of the Baudelaires carefully asked "Did Frank or Pete or whatever his name is, did he shoot him?"
Maldani paused for a moment before she answered "I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out before the CIA gets involved with this."
"The CIA?! What do they have to do this?" Violet cried out in shock.
Maldani let out another sigh as she explained "The CIA are the group that gave Frank his new identity as Pate Castiglione as a reward for his help in bringing some bad guys they were after to justice."
Violet wanted to ask what happened, but she had seen enough movies to know that the response she would get from Maldani would be "Classified information."
Instead she asked "Was Homeland security involved too?"
"Yes, yes, it was." Maldani replied before she changed the subject with "We've been reviewing your parent's will and the circumstances of the accident that orphaned you and your siblings."
Maldani paused again before she said "While the will still puzzles us, we think that the fire was no accident, we think it might have been started on purpose."
"What?!" Violet cried in horror as a vision of Count Olaf starting the fire sprun to her mind.
"Also, there is more." Maldani added. "We looked into your parents background and they were former Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"WHAT?!" Violet yelled. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her parents, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?
"I know this is a hard thing to ask if you, but can you think of anyone that might want to hurt your family?" Maldani carefully asked the 14 year old girl.
Violet didn't know what to say, all this time she thought that only Olaf and his troupe wanted to hurt her family just because of their money. The thought of more people coming after them just because her parents were enemy spies was to much to bare. All these thoughts must've shown themselves on her face, because Maldani said "Why don't you take a break?"
Violet nodded her head in thanks as they both got out from their chairs and left the office.
As soon as Klaus and Sunny saw their sister's face, Klaus asked "Are you okay? What happened in there? What did she say to you?"
"He-bah?" Sunny asked. Which meant "Do you need me to go over there and beat her up?"
Both Violet and Klaus laughed in spite of themselves.
"Careful what you say around here." Klaus advised.
"He-ma." Sunny answered as she shrugged her shoulders. Which meant "What are they going to do?" Arrest me? I'm a baby. Besides, you and Violet are the only ones who can understand me for some reason."
"Yeah and that still puzzles me." Violet stated.
"Yeah, How can you even understand a word that she's saying." Frank called from behind them.
Violet, Klaus and Sunny spun around to see Frank walking towards them.
"They finished with you early?" Klaus questioned in shock.
"Will we still go live with you?" Violet asked in a hopeful tone.
"I don't know, the truth is. I can't take care of a kid right now, I'm not in the right state of mind." Frank confessed.
"Huh?" All three Baudelaires muttered in confusion at once, before Frank sat down alongside them. as he continued with "I came back from the war with difficulties and you kids are great. I just can't look after kids without being reminded off…"
Klaus was the first to speak with "I want to ask what happened to you, but you don't have to tell us if you don't want to."
Frank gave Klaus a small, but rare grateful smile.
Then Maldani walked up to the Baudelaires and said "It's time to finish the rest of the interview."
With that, Violet got up and went back to Maldani's office. Awhile later, Maldani and Violet came back to the waiting area and said "Klaus, it's your turn."
"How did you know my name?" Klaus inquired.
"I read all of your names in the file." Maldani explained as Klaus got up from his seat and followed Maldani back to her office. Just as his sister did, Klaus made himself comfortable in the chair in front of Maldani's desk.
"I hear you like to read." Maldani stated. "I read you and your sister's files." She added.
Klaus nodded as Maldani asked "What do you like to read?"
"Everything, but mostly history books, science books, true crime novels, biographies, autobiographies and math books." Klaus answered.
"You like math books?" Maldani questioned in both shock and amusement. " I always hated that subject when I was your age." She added.
"Well then, you haven't met me and my older sister." Klaus said in a joking tone that was full of pride.
"I figured she was be good at math, considering how good of an inventor she is." Maldani stated. "Has she thought about where she would like to apply to in the future?"
"How did you know that?" Klaus inquired before he remembered "Oh, right. You read me and my sisters files."
"And we're getting off topic. Even though I'm enjoying this conversation." Maldani said.
"Me too." Klaus agreed.
Maldani then changed the subject with "Do you know what your parents used to do for a living?"
Klaus shook his head no.
Maldani let out a sigh as she said "I already told your sister this, but I looked into your parents files and discovered that they were former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. From what I could tell they were clean and no ties to H. Y. D. R. A. whatsoever. However that leads us to another uncomfortable question, that I understand you may have difficulty asking. Aside from Olaf, can you think of any one who might want to hurt your parents?"
Klaus felt all that he knew about his parents shatter like a glass window in front of him. He never once gave any thought to what his parents used to do before they had him and his sisters. They were so rich that they didn't need to work and Klaus didn't care since they were loving, doting and would do just about anything to keep their children safe and happy. To think that they were former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents even though they were clean was almost heartbreaking.
It must've shown on his face, because Maldani interrupted his thoughts with "Look like I said, not all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents worked with H.Y.D.R.A. knowingly and your parents were clean. However, I fear that might be reason enough for H.Y.D.R.A. to want them dead in the first place…"
Suddenly, Klaus interjected with "Are you saying that my parents might've been killed by H.Y.D.R.A. and covered it up with that fire?!"
"Calm down, I know this is hard for you and your siblings to hear and to be honest, we don't know what really happened, but there might be a chance that H. Y. D. R. A. might behind your parents deaths." Maldani said as gently as she could.
Once again, Klaus felt his mind start to shut down. All he could think was Why didn't they tell us? How mom and dad not tell us about this?
Then he was brought out his thoughts as Maldani said "Why don't we take a break?"
A few minutes later, Klaus rushed out into the waiting room. Upon seeing his state, Violet turned to Maldani and demanded "What did you do to my brother?"
"She didn't do anything to me. She shared something that will change how we think about the fire." Klaus explained in a shaky tone.
At his words, Violet and Sunny's faces became pale. Then the eldest Baudelaire asked "What did she tell you?"
Klaus took a deep shaky breath as he answered "She told me that the fire might've been started by H. Y. D.R. A. agents."
For a moment, both Violet and Sunny were rendered speechless. Then Sunny broke the silence with "Eh?" Which meant "How is that possible? What could our parents do that would make H.Y.D.R.A. want them dead?"
Violet frowned as she answered "I don't know, the only reason I can think is that they somehow learned the truth about…"
Violet paused as her face turned pale. However, she didn't need to finish as Klaus and Sunny got the idea. Their parents learned that H.Y.D.R.A. was within S.H.I.E.L.D. H.Y.D.R.A. fearing that the Baudelaire family would expose the truth, had them killed!
"Oh my god, what if they wanted to kill us too?" Violet added.
"I don't think so, as far as they knew, we didn't know anything about any of about either one of those groups." Klaus stated thoughtfully.
"Eee." Sunny added. Which meant "But we do now."
"Yeah, What are we going to do about it?" Violet added.
"I'll tell you what we're going to do about it, you're all going to stay with someone for awhile, but I'm afraid it can't be with me." Frank spoke up. Then he added "Like I said, I'm not cut out of raising kids again."
Violet, Klaus and Sunny were disappointed, but they understood. He lost his family just like they lost their parents and it seemed to be too soon to take on the task of raising some else's kids. Especially after the Baudelaires needed to go over everything they thought they knew about their parents.
Then they were suddenly brought out of their thoughts as Frank said "However, I think I might know someone who would be glad to take of all you in."
Sometime later, The Baudelaires arrived at the home of their new guardian, Dinah Maldani."
"Thank you. Thank you so so much." Violet said in a tone filled with gratitude.
"I couldn't let you guys be put in the foster care system." Maldani replied as she opened the door to her apartment. "My parents are going to love you guys." She added.
"Your parents?" Violet and Klaus muttered at the same time.
"Do your parents live with you?" Klaus asked.
"No, They're just coming over for dinner tonight." Maldani explained as she lead the Baudelaires though the many rooms of her apartment. From what Violet, Klaus and Sunny could see, Maldani's apartment was nice. It had a great view and it was nicely decorated.
Then Maldani brought them out of their thoughts as she said "We need to go over some ground rules. Don't let Sunny get the couch messy and no eating in the living room."
"Sunny, won't get the couch messy unless you court the possibility of her biting it." Violet explained.
"What?" Maldani asked in a confused tone.
"Noo." Sunny muttered. Which meant "Hey! I won't bite her things!"
She then paused for a few minutes before she added "Eee." Which meant "Yet."
"Sunny." Before Violet and Klaus scolded at the same time.
"How can you even understand a word she's saying?" Maldani questioned.
"We grew up with her." Both Violet and Klaus replied.
Sometime later, the group of four were waiting on the couch in the living room when they heard the doorbell rang. Maldani got up and answered the door. She opened it to reveal an elderly Iranian couple who were clearly her parents.
"Mom, Dad. I like you to meet Violet, Klaus and Sunny." Maldani said as the Baudelaires stood up and walked over towards the couple.
Maldani's mother smiled as she said "My name is Farah and this is my husband Hamad."
Then she turned to Maldani and added "So this is the closest we're going to get towards grandchildren?"
"Mom!" Maldani cried out mortified as all three Baudelaires began to laugh.
A short while later, the whole group was enjoying their dinner.
"So, how do you guys like it here in New York City so far?" Farah as she took a bite of her pasta.
"I'm not sure, but it's definitely different from our hometown." Klaus answered as he took a slip from his cup.
"We felt the same way when we first came to this city. We had to leave all of our friends and family in Teran behind." Hamad added.
"You escapes the Iranian revolution?" Klaus whispered in quiet awe.
Both Farah and Hamad nodded as Maldani added "But I was born and raised here, like you guys."
Then the rest of the dinner dissolved into talks about childhood, family and the new life that the Baudelaires and Maldani would share together.
Awhile later, all three Baudelaires were getting ready to go to bed.
"Maldani seems nice and I think we're going to like living with her, but do you ever think we'll see Castle again?" Violet questioned as she and her siblings tucked themselves under the covers.
"Who knows? I just hope he gets better." Klaus answered. Then all three Baudelaires closed their eyes and fell asleep in their new beds.
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