'till things are brighter, i'm the man in black

“-And then, he threw me off a roof! Good times, good times. Anyways, that’s why I’m laying in a pool of my own blood on the concrete here.”

“Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.”

She finally got up on both feet. “You know I was fair. But I could web you right now if I wanted to.”

“See ? Sometimes it never heals and you have to live with it. But whatever, that’s not a joyful talk we have here. So, how long did you serve your country ?”

“You can talk. I’m not smoking, me.”

“I agree. But words can sometimes be more painful than weapons.”

“Have I asked you for anything? Have I presented you with anything? No, I haven’t. We are just talking. And I am just observing.” he shrugged. “Well god help anyone who ticks you off. Ever shoot anyone who made your coffee wrong? Thought about it?”

“Miss out on an opportunity to get pizza? Obvoiusly you don’t know me so well,” he said, placing a ten down for his half-drank beer before standing up. “Besides, I’m starving.”

Angie stumbled back when the muscle mass of Daisy jumped on her. She went on her knees and pet her.  “Aaanw, who’se a good girl, yes you are, I missed you baby girl….how ave you been…” she kissed the dog’s skull and avoided a kiss. “Nah nah, no kisses…”

“Maybe people fear the truth because sometimes… it hurts. That doesn’t mean it’s better.”

“I’ve been told that once or twice before. But I don’t think this time it is going to end up in a wedding. You really aren’t my type.” he smiled. “Who said I want anything from you, right now? Right now we are just talking.”

“But that doesn’t mean they’re bad at what they do either.”

“I’ve been to Italy, Castle. I love Italian pizza but nothing beats Tony’s on the corner across from Rockaway Beach.”

“I agree, despite the fact that I’m actually in those. But would you trust a cop with PTSD ? Would you give your life to a triggeredsurgeon ? Or buy products to a company leaded by a person who doesn’t have much sleep ?

“Indeed I am. That’s me. The crazy one who drinks two cofees plus energy things to stay awake.”

“Hydra. It was a Nazi science division headed by Standartenfuhrer Johann Schmidt who later went by the alias Red Skull, but when Schmidt decided his time was better served searching for ancient legends instead of building the Reinland, Hitler fired him, shut down the Hydra unit, and thought it dead. Of course it wasn’t, and has continued to be a thorn in everyone’s side for the next hundred years.” Hill stood up, glancing at Castle briefly before taking several pictures from the file and placing them in front of him. Natasha Romanoff, Bucky Barnes, The Hulk, The Abomination.

“These are all direct results of Captain Rogers super soldier serum, different nations looking to create their own army of mega-killers. If Zemo gets close to any of these people, we’re fucked. If Zemo gets close to any of our scientists, we’re fucked. And I don’t like to be fucked by anyone who isn’t Idris Elba.” Hill sat down again, looking at Castle, trying to register his mood.” Here’s the thing, Castle, motivations only last so long. Anyone can tell you that. No human being can be dedicated to a cause for fifty years, it’s inhuman. Your one man war of crime, it’s got to be wearing thin. You pull up one weed, two more sprout in it’s place. You clearly want some weed killer. That’s S.H.I.E.L.D. We’re the good guys.”

Maria hated Frank with a passion, he was arrogant, filled with military training and nothing else. A killing machine, a war machine. Maria was a spy, trained to be the peak of human performance both in her mind and in her body. She knew that an appeal to his civic duty, his military oath or even his national pride would fall of deaf ears, so she opted for a simpler one. “Your shot gun is neat, and your brass knuckles are cute, but if you join my outfit, we’ll stock you to the teeth. We’ll make sure that you have everything you need. Send one person to do the job of twenty people. Spare nineteen lives. Well not one person, you’d be sent with an actual agent, I’m not an idiot, I know you’d run off and attack some Mexican Cartel types if we took our eyes off you for a second. So, you and Agent Barton, shadow of night, under your alias’ obviously. The Punisher and Hawkeye, saving the world from evil. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it, Castle?”

“Here’s a deal, Hill,” Frank started, his voice as calm as it was at the beginning of the conversation. Maria diligently did her psychology homework during S.H.I.E.L.D. training, he could see that. She wasn’t so great at hiding her personal contempt though. It made Castle feel weirdly calm in this situation. Hill hated him and here she was, luring him with a sense of belonging and all the other shit. The fact that his own goodwill was the only power in the agreement almost made Frank smile. “Terms and conditions are on me here, it’s not a job interview. Neither I am, nor I ever will be your underling, I’m not a beast that you’ll unleash and we’re not discussing conditions of the unleashing right now, I hope we’re clear about that.” Frank looked up to meet Maria’s eyes, ready to strike off every amount of anger she had for him.