✔ᵉⁿᵍˡⁱˢʰ War Dogs [The Punisher | Frank Castle]✔

─⌖❖ 31

'What's your saying again? If two men duel, one has a Colt, the other a rifle, the one with the Colt is a dead man. Let's see if it's true. Pick up your rifle, load it and shoot...'

[ For a fistful of dollars ]

"What does your father think of your friendships, anyway?" gave Frank when he heard Page coming, "They're not exactly the kind of people where you'd be happy for a parent to have their kid be friends with them."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. His friends certainly aren't among the presentable ones either, if you dig deep enough, see Rawlins," Page countered, setting the black bag, which dangled from two of her fingers for a few seconds, down on the table in front of Frank, "Compared to others in my circle, Jax was alright and my dad liked him, well, until the time it came up internally that he was dealing in guns and the like. Some guy in a red rubber suit took care of him.... Your Toys Castle. I didn't think I was your type."

"Don't flatter yourself," Page would never get that idea, so Frank, about your appearance, didn't need to flatter himself either. "It'll be over before the sun comes up, I promise you."

"Why me? This is not about me. Because of that, can I give you something to take away?" which Page was going to do anyway, so she kept her hand on her pocket as well, so Frank would have to listen to her, "We didn't choose our lives completely, but it's not about merely surviving, it's about being able to live with ourselves. Sometimes, the hardest choices, demand the hardest will. Sometimes, we just have to be better than others, no matter if it is against our nature. I hope you find your peace of mind."

Only the dead have seen the end of the war.

─⌖❖⌖─

There were no dead that night. At least, none of any significance. And as for Billy Russo, he remained alive, if his current condition and what Frank had arranged with him was still a life. Bones that were broken several times, so the doctors assumed that Russo would not be able to walk without help. The face became a case for an aesthetic surgeon and would never look the same again.

Change can sometimes be so gradual that you don't notice the difference until it's long past history. It's sometimes so slow that you don't notice if your life is getting better or worse. But it can also blow you away and change you completely. In a second.