On a Boat Who: Cassandra Cain and Frank Castle NPCs: Thai slave traders Where: Bangkok, Thailand -- on a cargo ship traveling to it, and the city itself. When: Summer, 2005 (waaaaay backdated), when Cass was nine and Frank was early in his Punisher career. What: This is what Cass' flashbacks to Thailand had hinted at. A young Cass stows away aboard a ship and meets a certain skull-wearin' vigilante. They go their separate ways after docking, but later their paths cross again in a rather disturbing place. Rating: R for violence and human trafficking. Also, C for Cuteness, because Cass is nine and she makes a friend.
No one knew she was there. The young girl had slipped aboard a cargo ship before it left Hong Kong. She had no idea where it was going, but she needed to stay away from her father. Lately she'd begun to feel his presence, like pinpricks on the back of her neck. Those pinpricks told her to run, while everything else about her told her to run up to him, throw her arms around his hips, and communicate that she was sorry for running away and that she wanted to be a better daughter for him.
But every time she entertained the latter impulse, visceral images of a torn neck, blood, and the ceasing of body language stopped her in her tracks and threatened to make her vomit. So she listened to the pinpricks.
She found a nice secluded spot in the cargo hold to call her own, and she was good at hiding whenever anyone approached. Sometimes she would even pick their pockets or swipe any food their were eaten at the time, without them knowing she was there. At most, they felt her presence as an eerie breeze across their backs, but they seemed to think it was part of the old ship; they already seemed like they'd spent years being leery of anything that might have been lurking down here.
Except, she was starting to suspect someone onboard knew she was stoying away. She hoped the ship would reach its destination soon. She didn't want to have to beat anyone up.