shake the dust

feel free to change pronouns / descriptors !

i’m too frightened to be scared.

i want mine in the tushie.

without love, what are we worth? 89 cents. 89 cents worth of chemicals walking around lonely. 

the fighting goes on, the hatred, the violence, the senseless brutality, men behaving like animals - and then there’s the war. 

insanity is just a state of mind. 

how ‘bout a little kiss for the road?

hi, good-looking, get sick here often?

i will not carry a gun.

i told you the food here should not be taken internally. 

state your business in one word or less.

come on, stupid, don’t play dumb with me! 

i never lose anything. have you seen my (insert thing)?

how can you kick out this little puppy of a person? 

i can take umbrage, i can take the cake, i can take the a-train, i can take two and call me in the morning, but i cannot take this sitting down. 

i am having a bust made out of your head, or, possibly, the other way around. 

i wonder how old he is. let’s saw him in half tonight and count his rings. 

can i borrow your doctor’s diploma?

you know what time it is? it’s quarter to dead! 

i am going to name my first wife after him. 

i’m not a psychiatrist. i’m not screwed up enough. 

a device is yet to be invented that will measure my indifference to this remark.

praise the lord and pass the sauce!

what a unique device, the human tush. an architectural wonder, one of a kind … actually two of a kind. designed to support our weight for a lifetime of sitting it also has the subtlety to do the samba. and when attached to certain members of the female species at a time when light summer dresses are worn can cause some of us to drive our cars straight up a lamppost. 

let’s shoot him and put him our of our misery.

i am the essence of overconfidence! i am speculation, adventure, the spirit of pursuit, the stag howling for its winsome yet anonymous mate. i am the love call of evolution; the perfume and color of the flowers as they offer their pollen to the gentle buzz of the bees. i am sex itself. i am life. i am appetite! 

i’m practically naked.

you look like an ad for death.

ours not to question why, ours not to let them die.

a war is like when it rains in new york and everybody crowds into doorways, ya’ know? and they all get chummy together. perfect strangers. the only difference, of course, is in a war it’s also raining on the other side of the street and the people who are chummy over there are trying to kill the people who are over here who are chums. 

do you know what a hero is? ninety-nine times out of a hundred, he’s somebody who’s tired enough and cold enough and hungry enough not to give a damn.

the younger they get, the older i get.

don’t you know what it’s like to stand day after day in blood? 

i hate this place.

to hell with you.

my kingdom for an intelligent octopus!

it’s a semi-free country.

alright, listen here, kid.

bite your tongue, (name). or better yet, let me do it.

he’s both the child and pet i never had.

it’s lonely here. especially at night.

war isn’t hell. war is war, and hell is hell. and of the two, war is a lot worse. 

there are no innocent bystanders in hell. war is chalk full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. in fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

Katheryn Winnick as Christine ‘C.G.’ Gavin in Wu Assassins - S01E04

‘ A SOUL for a SOUL… ‘

                                     ‘ it’s okay….

                                                                         let me go… ‘

That voice and those words are on a constant loop.  It always sound like an echo, off in the distance, yet still close enough as if to reach. And then there’s a bright light blinding Natasha’s vision.  Her eyes take a lot more than a few minutes to adjust.  Confusion is an understatement at this point and she slowly sits up from wherever she is lying down. She now realizes it happens to be a bed in some bedroom she’s never seen before. Where is she? What has happened?  And most importantly… how is she here?

She stares at her hands for a moment; moves her fingers.  This is real.  She is real.  She finally has the strength to sit up.  She flinches as she sees herself in the mirror.  She’s wearing her battle armor that she last remembers being in.  Her head hurts as she breathes, and her hands rub her temples, then the back of her head before abruptly stopping.  Wait — it’s wet.  Her hands move back into her vision and they’re tainted with red.  Oh, that’s right…

She can still hear it.  The sound of a large, bone crushing crash. And then darkness, swallowing her whole.  The pain turning to comfort.  The silence.  The peace.

Slowly, she slides out of the unfamiliar bed, her feet cold against the floor.  She’s wearing her suit, but her shoes are gone?  Strange.  She feels weak, her knees buckling as she tries to move away from the bed.  Her hand reaches out to brace herself, leaving a bright red hand print on the wall.  Her breath is ragged as she wills herself towards the doorway, and out into the cold, sterile hallway.

“Hello?”  Her voice is more raspy than usual, and she clears her throat.  Not that that will help any.  She’s practically broken.  “Anyone there?”  Her hand rests on the wall, holding her up.  The blood red print left behind, a not so subtle reminder of just how fragile she is.  Her knees buckle as she takes another step, and she’s on the floor, calling out in pain.  Anyone?

“Hello.”  The voice, metallic and feminine, echoed out without warning.  “You are the only one present in this hallway.  I would advise you to return to the bed as you are severely wounded and should not be mobilized.”

*

“I can’t believe she’s still alive.  Her armor was the only thing holding her together.”

“Good thing we didn’t have to bring her aboard on the Mako, the commander’s driving would have killed her for sure.”

“I heard that, lieutenant.”

“Keelah, Shepard, you scared me.”

“Sorry, Tali, I was trying to scare the lieutenant.  Is the med-bay ready yet?”

“Almost, commander.  Most of the damage is repaired, and Dr. Chakwas is overseeing the final cleanup.  She’s going through Tali’s scans in the meantime.”

“Shepard, the woman you brought aboard is awake.  She attempted to leave the XO’s office and has now fallen and can’t get up.”

“How the hell - she was out cold - thank you, EDI.”

*

He knew that this was probably not the best time to talk to her about this, considering she was in the middle of some sort of meditation, but he took the chance anyway.  Maybe it was because he just needed to get it out there, and he knew that she would listen.  Maybe it was something else.  Who knew anymore.  If he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t even sure anymore.  He had to smile a little at her words, shrugging as he watched her.

Listening as she continued, he let out a breath, nodding just a little.  Natasha was always had words of wisdom for him.  He just had to listen to her.  Which, he did.  She was always the one he went to.  The one he relied on more than anyone else.  They worked well together, and had become extremely close friends.  It was nice having her around.  He took her question to heart though, taking a long moment to think about it.

“It used to be, for a purpose.  I did everything I could, to be accepted into the army.  Rejection after rejection, and I never gave up.  I had a reason.  A purpose for it.  But now…”  He fades off, sighing a little at the thought of everything he had been through since waking up.  “After the ice I… I don’t know.  It’s different.  Being a soldier is all I know.  I don’t know how to turn it off.  How to be anyone else.”

Her gaze remained steady as she listened, watching Steve’s shifting expressions, then she cocked her head and looked through the window.  She took a moment and untangled his thoughts.

“You’re not supposed to be anyone else.”  Start there, simple.  Bobbi’s voice echoed through her head.  “Don’t be anyone else.  Being a soldier is not all you know, you were many things before you enlisted, you have your memories.”

She paused as a little knot twisted in her stomach.  Memories.  “I’m not suggesting you turn it off, I know that is difficult.  It is difficult for anyone, and often unhealthy.  But soldiers retire.  Soldiers take leave.  Soldiers are people.  Ice thaws.  Ice thaws,” she repeated, and looked at Steve again.  “Your future is not a closed box.  It is open, and it is yours to do with what you please.”

texts the other memes at 3 am:

tries to convince the other to do an idea that definitely sounds questionable:

is the designated driver and who always gets wasted:

always has to host the impromptu sleepover:

who’s netflix account gets mooched off of:

brings all the snacks and who supplies the movie:

is usually the first one to say sorry after a fight:

is the ‘ mom friend ‘:

calls the other at 12 am to wish the other a happy birthday without fail:

is the better wingman to the other:

‘ the strong must protect the sweet ‘ , who’s the ‘ strong ‘ and who’s the ‘ sweet ‘: 

He can hear her, all the way down the hallway.  Her voice, carrying in the distance.  Everyone else is silent, looking away from the far door.  They know that it could just as easily be them that she’s yelling at, over Fury and Hill.  And he knows they’re afraid of her.  Not that he blames them for it.  Bobbi Morse, is a force to be reckoned with.  That temper has been come by honestly though.  And he doesn’t think she’s wrong in this situation.

None of them were prepared for anything that they just faced.  And New York, was almost leveled because of it.  While the Avengers were put together for just this purpose, they weren’t ready.  And they didn’t trust each other enough, to take on something that big.  And Fury knew it.

Speaking of Fury, he stood in the hallway, watching as he left the room.  The blonde pacing as the door stood open, Hill sliding out after her boss.  Taking in a breath, he moved to lean against the door frame, his arms crossing over his chest.  “I don’t think I have ever seen Fury scurry off like that before.  You’ll have to let me know your secret.”

@offthxshxlf

Killer

robots.

KILLER DAMN ROBOTS.

She had to stand still a moment for that one.  And then she was moving again, her hands shifting from her back pockets to her hair to her hips.

“We blew SHIELD the fuck up, Morse, find out why, Morse.”  Bobbi growled to herself and swung around for another lap.  “We dropped a damn city and lost half the team, Morse, clean up our mess, Morse!” She shrieked the final admonition very, very quietly through gritted teeth and jerked to a halt in front of the window.  Her whole body shifted restlessly before she folded her arms, one hand resting over her mouth.

Take a breath.

The exhale helped.  She could fight with Hill any damn day, but it took a lot of juice to get into it with Fury, and the momentum was fading.  The knot of frustration in her chest loosened a little.  The even-toned voice from the doorway nearly sent her through the window.

Suddenly feeling warm from shoulders to scalp, Bobbi turned.  There he was.  Tall.  Lounging.  Calm.  Tall.  How is he so tall, and yet so quiet.  How is he so Irish, and yet so quiet.  Words, Morse, out loud, grown-up words.

“Ah, yes.  The Fury scurry.”  The hand formerly over her mouth stroked her chin.  “It is a skill of great power and must be wielded with equally great care.  I have to be sure you are worthy.”