i'm already dead.

▍▍▍ ▍▍ ▍ 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 : 𝙏he psychology of permanent war, the failure of the justice system, systemic decay and corruption, the violence of grief, the abandonment and exploitation of veterans, fractured brotherhood, the impossibility of returning to ordinary life, justice versus retribution. proceed with caution .ᐟ

𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 : DIRECTIVES. ¹ PROFILE. ² PROMPTS. ³ EDITS. ⁴ BOARD. ⁵

| | | RE: UNPROMPTED , STATUS: ACCEPTING.

𝙏here isn't much left that scares him. bullets don't. knives don't. men with nothing left to lose don't. he's looked death in the eye often enough that they've become old acquaintances, nodding at one another in passing. survived things that should've buried him. watched better men die with with cleaner hands and lighter consciences. these days fear comes in different forms. in quiet mornings with nowhere to be, in nights spent staring at the ceiling, wondering how long before death finds her the same way it did maria. he wakes to warmth pressed against his mouth, eyes barely open before she's pulling away. like it's nothing, just goddamn habit. like she's done it countless mornings before and will do it countless more and god, he hopes she does. he'd been waiting for it somewhere beneath sleep. expecting the brush of her lips the same way he expects the kick of a rifle against his shoulder. the same way he expects pain after impact.

| | | | that — that scares the hell out of him.

he doesn't want to hear it. he can't hear that right now. he's too busy staring at the war he's pinned to the wall: photographs of old warehouses, grainy surveillance shots, MAPS WITH CIRCLES CARVED INTO THEM IN BLACK MARKER. newspaper clippings thumbtacked beside handwritten timelines — some of the articles carrying karen's byline. gnucci's name surfacing over and over like something bloated refusing to stay buried. frank stands in front of it all with a coffee cup hanging loose from one hand. his trigger finger twitches once against the cardboard before he lifts the drink to his mouth. " heard 'bout red. " the courthouse riot and the aftermath. fisk getting tucked away somewhere safe like men like him do when shit hits the fan — protected by the same system that buries everyone else. he almost wishes he'd been there just to put a bullet through the kingpin's skull.