Fratt

Fratt is the slash ship between Frank Castle and Matt Murdock from the Daredevil fandom.

Season 2
NEW YORK'S FINEST

Matt awakens chained to the roof of a building, with The Punisher near him. Frank is sewing up the wound on his arm, while Matt struggles against the chains. He eventually stops and asks why he didn't take his mask off. Frank just doesn't really care who he actually is. Matt then asks why he didn't kill him, but Frank doesn't answer, and just pulls out weapons. Matt then question what Frank is going to do. Frank responds that he'll do what needs to get done.

Matt continues to ask questions, but Frank chooses to ignore him. He tells him that he can stop and not kill anyone else, but Frank asks if Matt could walk away from what he does. He takes Matt's silence as an answer. They hear church bells, and Matt asks if Frank is a catholic, and if he was from New York. Frank just says that he was...once. Matt chuckles at his answer, before asking more, but Frank tells him to stop. Matt starts talking about New York, before Frank stops him with sarcasm. He then asks if Matt has been to war, but since he hasn't, Frank tells him to stop talking about it. Matt says that he's been in fights, but that doesn't change his opinion. They continue to talk, Matt believing that Frank is at war, but he doesn't want to hear it and is annoyed by Matt's analyzing.

Matt asks why he's here, Frank tells him that what Matt does, doesn't work. Matt asks if what Frank does works, but Frank only does it out of necessity. Matt scoffs at this and asks who he lost, since he can tell that Frank has lost someone, but he's not the only one and he doesn't have to kill people because of it. Franks says that loss doesn't work the same for everyone, and he doesn't choose what helps him. He asks about the name that Matt was given, but Matt just tells him he doesn't do this to hurt or kill people. Frank asks if that what make's Matt better than him, but Matt just doesn't want anyone to die. Frank asks if he really believes that then asks who asked him to put on the costume. Frank tells Matt that all Matt is, is one bad day away from becoming him. Matt is about to respond when he hears someone coming to the roof. Matt asks him not to hurt them, and Frank won't as long as they don't give a reason. They hear a man shouting, and Frank tells him that if Matt make's a sound, Frank will kill him. He then goes over to see what's going on.

PENNY AND DIME

When the Irish Mob hear of The Punisher, they break into his home and take his dog. Frank watches from afar as they successfully kidnap the dog and drive off. Meanwhile, Nelson and Murdock are in communication with the DA about potentially arresting Frank and putting him on trial for his crimes. They have started collecting evidence of Frank's past through photos and news stories of the incident in which Frank's family was murdered and he was also shot. Karen specifically tries digging around to find more information, as the case is mysteriously hardly in the public consciousness.

That evening, Frank is sitting on a bench watching the carousel in the park, reminiscing on times with his family. The Irish then surround him and ask him to come with them. He tries to fight them off when he is injected with something and hears that the person who wants him wants him to be alive. Frank successfully shoots most of the men before the leader of the mob approaches with more men, tasing Frank as he collapsed under the effect of the chemical he was previously injected with. While this is happening, Daredevil finds Sergeant Mahoney and he tells Daredevil that the Irish have put a bounty on Frank's head, but that he doesn't want Daredevil involved, because his actions are resulting in the police being taken less seriously. Mahoney then gets a call over the radio about Frank's fight at the carousel and Daredevil follows.

At the scene, Daredevil sees the mess Punisher made, and hears a mobster who is still clinging to life. He extracts information about the attack from him, as well as the fact that the Irish have kidnapped Frank and are interrogating him in a secret location. In the undisclosed location, Frank is interrogated and brutally tortured by the head of the mob for information about his oldest son's death and a sum of money stolen, both actions done by Frank. Despite being beaten and drilled through with a hand drill, Frank refuses to talk. It's when the mob threatens to murder his dog that he relents and agrees to talk. However, Daredevil has already made his way into the area. Frank reveals where the money is supposedly hidden, and the head of the mob tells him that he will keep Frank alive until he's secured the money. It turns out that Frank rigged the money location with explosives and blew up the mob goons looking for it. At the same time, he is able to escape his duct tape handcuffs with a razor blade he hid under some bandages, and he shoots the mob leader and his goons. As he begins getting cornered and shot at, Daredevil arrives and takes down the men shooting at Frank.

They move escape the compound while fighting more men, where Daredevil ensures that Frank cannot kill anyone. Frank begins growing weaker from his previous injuries sustained during the interrogation and Daredevil carries him out into the open world, where they rest at a graveyard. Frank compliments Daredevil on his fighting and admits that he was proven wrong about what he was capable of. Daredevil tells Frank that help is on its way, and Frank tells him that he should leave him because he expects to die. Daredevil does the opposite, and sits down in front of Frank. Frank tells him that he would have been a good Marine if he ever enlisted. Daredevil asks about a rhyme that Frank whispered while he was being ambushed, which Daredevil could hear. Frank is surprised that he heard it, but then reveals that it was a saying from one of his daughter's favorite books. He then tells Daredevil the story of returning from service and spending a short amount of time with his children, specifically his daughter, before they and his wife were murdered. The story of Frank's connection to his daughter and the way she speaks fondly of her, as well as the way he describes holding his daughter's dead body, brings Daredevil to tears. After the story, Frank tells Daredevil that he's "done" as a cop car arrives to their location. Sergeant Mahoney begins to arrest Daredevil when he tells the officer that he wanted to give him Frank as a response to his previous comment that the police feel like they are useless because they never catch any criminals for themselves. The gesture allows him to evade arrest, as well as work for him on the legal front, allowing Frank to be arrested rather than killed, and stand available for trial.

REGRETS ONLY

Advancing on the Frank Castle case, a small-time lawyer, on orders from the DA, meets with Nelson and Murdock to discuss a statement Karen gave to the police regarding seeing Frank in action. As Karen reads the statement, she realizes that the DA completely fabricated her experience, presumably to make their case look better. Matt arrives at the office mid-way through their discussion and is shocked, with Foggy and Karen, at the earnestness of the lawyer. He assumes that the case will be done, and that Frank will be given the death penalty. Matt is confused at the joy that the lawyer seems to get by talking about the possibility that Frank will be linked to the killings of a biker gang along the New York-Delaware border, meaning he will be extradited to Delaware, where the death penalty exists. Karen tells the lawyer that she can't sign the statement because it's false, and the three hurry him out of the building. After the encounter, Matt and Karen attempt to convince Foggy that they should be the ones to represent Frank against the DA and give him a fair chance at not being sentenced to death. Matt especially emphasizes that Frank has a story to be told, and that story could convince a jury to keep him from being killed. Foggy reminds Matt that the move could risk their firm and reputations, and he asks Matt if his passion about Frank's case is genuine, or only motivated by the fact that he and Frank are both vigilantes. Matt assures him that he's interested in Frank's case simply because he's a person that doesn't deserve the fate of the death penalty. Eventually, Frank agrees to taking on Nelson and Murdock as his lawyers, only to disregard their advice to plead guilty to his charges, where he pleads not guilty instead, so he can go to trial.

Fanon
While Fratt was not historically a common ship in the comic fandom, it is pretty big among fans of the Daredevil TV series and has seen a resurgence in comic enjoyers. Both in the MCU and in the comics, the ship works due to their opposite philosophies and ways of tackling crime in the city, emphasizing the trope of "opposites attract." The ship also attracts fans based on small interactions between the two, including Frank's nickname of "Red" for Daredevil, or the way that Frank is openly emotional and vulnerable with Daredevil as he recounts the horrors of his past to him in Penny and Dime. Most fan art and fiction, despite this behavior not being entirely accurate to the canon, tends to emphasize a Brooding Boy, Gentle Boy trope, in which Frank is gruff and aggressive and Matt is softer and more attentive. As part of the trope, these fan works show Matt healing Frank of his traumas and reservations with his care and attention. On AO3, Fratt is the second most popular ship for both Matt and Frank. It is also the third most written ship in the Daredevil (TV) tag, the second most written in Daredevil (Comics) and The Punisher (TV 2017) tags and the most written in the Punisher (Comics) tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Matt/Frank tag on FanFiction.Net
 * Matt/Frank tag on FanFiction.Net

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Trivia

 * Frank's nickname for Matt is "Red", due to the color of the Daredevil suit.
 * Matt and Karen are the only characters Frank truly opens up to about his traumas, leading them both to develop soft spots for the humanity of a man that no other characters see.