Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher

Another shooting incident has taken

two young lives here in the city.

the same unusual high-tech assault weapon used today

has also been traced to a series of homicides,

which have occurred over the past few weeks.

It is believed at this time that the crimes were committed

by one particular gang, but...

Huh?

Huh?

Punisher!

How the hell did you get all these weapons, Cain?

Your mouth seems to be working just fine.

You sadistic freak!

I'm waiting. Answer me.

Evening, Castle. What have you got there?

Friend of yours?

What are you doing here, Black Widow?

Stay out of my way.

Director Fury says he'd like to have a word with you.

Then he should get on a shuttle and come down here.

I'm in the middle of working.

You know this was a S.H.I.E.L.D. op. We had our eyes on them.

So did I.

Thanks to you, this operation has been compromised.

What you're doing is going to cause them to pull back

and make it more difficult for us to track and identify the supplier.

You play your games, I stop these scum.

No court or prison, just a bullet.

You're so shortsighted, Castle. Open your eyes.

Don't you think you've done enough for today?

Now hand Cain over.

Forget it.

Hmm.

I'll say this for a second time. So listen, Black Widow.

Stay out of my way.

I won't warn you again.

Last chance, hand him over.

You get no third warning.

Frank!

Frank...

I only need a minute. And it's very important.

I presume it's something important to you.

Is that right, Fury?

Or should I be addressing you as Director Fury?

We go back a long way...

Well then, Director Fury,

you should know that I'll do anything to get the job done.

Oh, I'm aware of that.

(SIGHS) You haven't got a clue.

If you did, then you would have brought along more men.

If you really want to talk, then tell your toy soldiers to stand down.

Widow...

I know how his mind works.

And he won't forget that.

Too much talking. And anyway, he was threatening you.

Frank had no intention of hurting me, you know that.

Can't be too safe.

Tie him up and take him to the holding cell on the Helicarrier.

As for Cain...

Boss, I think

that may present a problem.

So, you're finally up. How about a hot cup of coffee?

About time. Got a headache?

Come on, Frank. You used to smile more, back in the old days.

Yeah. A lifetime ago.

Look at what you've become.

A self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner.

You think you're above the law.

You and that damned skull.

No question you're effective, but there are rules we have to follow.

It isn't the wild west out there.

Not even for you.

As long as you were attacking low-level thugs,

I had no problem with your methods, and let you run free.

But this time, I can't look the other way.

You've stepped into my territory.

I do what I have to do, that's all.

Come on!

This is a much bigger operation than you could ever imagine!

That's why you're here in cuffs!

I can't have you getting in the way and screwing things up!

It costs too much time and money!

It's your operation?

And just how many people do you think died

while you wasted all that time and money?

Beyond that, how many innocent lives

are you willing to let be ruined

while you play things by the book?

Kids died while you were following the rules with your operation.

You're not stupid, Frank, so don't be so damn shortsighted.

You want to win the battle. I want to win the whole war.

You S.H.I.E.L.D. suits are so concerned with the war,

you forget about all the people

who get caught in the crossfire.

Who cares if you win, if there's no one left alive to celebrate?

We care that the bad guys need to be stopped.

We're on the same page in that regard.

To do that, though,

we have to destroy the root of the problem, not the tip of the branch.

If we don't eliminate the network,

the whole thing is nothing but an exercise in futility.

And the network is...

Leviathan.

You want to know who's to blame? They're the ones.

They're the terrorist group responsible

for the high-tech specialized assault weapons flooding your streets.

Our biggest concern at the moment

is that somehow they've acquired

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s proprietary weapons technology.

And they've now begun using it against us.

We know this because the weapon's operating system is based

on a unique technology we've spent years developing.

As you can see,

the high-density laser is concentrated into plasma,

which energizes the wakefield, controlling its emission.

Since the technology was created by S.H.I.E.L.D.,

the truth of the matter is, you people have blood on your hands, as well.

What are you gonna do, Castle, come after all of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

I'd like to see that.

We have been a step behind.

We needed to track down and neutralize the manufacturer of the guns,

to prevent our technology from being used for terrorism.

And Cain was going to lead us to them.

Okay, then, so what's the problem?

We've run into an unexpected development.

Cain got away from us.

It happened when we were busy dealing with you.

What was it that Cain told you?

Not a thing.

Yeah, I'm not buying that.

We think he told you the location of the guns.

We need that intel.

I have no intention of becoming your informant, Nick.

Well, if he did tell you where to find them, why not cooperate with us?

Take this thing off first.

You can't make demands.

If you refuse to cooperate with us, we'll lock you up.

I have one condition before I'll say anything.

Do you really think you're in a position to make a deal?

Let me go after them.

Why would I allow that?

Isn't that really why you brought me in here?

Well, I'm not gonna play along, unless you remove these now!

You should just give him what he wants, Director.

The truth is we're on a clock here and there's no time to waste.

Yeah, I know.

All right, we met your conditions.

Tell us the location Cain gave you.

Hmm.

If you provide me with some weapons, I'll go in alone.

At first, you only gave one condition. To let you go.

Here's my condition. From now on, you take orders from me.

It's easier if you stay out of it.

Unfortunately, I can't allow that.

You'll have to adjust to having a new partner.

I hope you can keep up.

We may be working together,

but I'm not taking orders from you.

Tell me what you know about Leviathan.

Didn't you read the brief? It was all in there.

It wasn't very insightful. Mostly bureaucratic nonsense.

Leviathan is a terrorist organization

that was formerly a secret division

of Russian intelligence.

Does that mean you know some of the players?

Only by reputation.

When Russia collapsed, they all went underground

They expanded their power by basing themselves in economically poor regions

that had been devastated by recurring wars.

They're involved with every evil deed known to man.

Human trafficking, assassination, terrorism, drugs, you name it.

They don't claim responsibility for their crimes,

and the objective of the organization is unknown.

That makes them both terrifying and dangerous.

And with the technology S.H.I.E.L.D. has provided them,

they've now become lethal.

The most lethal crime organization anywhere in the world.

We didn't provide it to them. They stole it from us.

That doesn't make a difference to the dead civilians.

The site down there used to be a center