I do not own Avengers.
Can almost quote the entire movie.
Just An Old Man
The old Jew knelt with the rest of them.
Down on the cold, dark concrete.
The uncertainty, the fear, the suddenness.
The command.
It made them comply.
Human nature.
Do as you are told.
And as the man, for it surely was some type of man, continued to speak, his memories began to surface.
The soaking rain. The numbing cold. The shivering fear.
And the hunger, always the gnawing hunger.
Then, the buried past.
Here, present day.
Man, brutal, powerful.
Some staff-like weapon in his strangely garbed hand.
No gun.
No rain.
No hunger.
But the response was the same.
Subjugation.
"You will always kneel."
No. Not again.
He had knelt.
In the slums.
In the cattlecar.
In the prison camps.
In the mud and rain and filth.
He had knelt.
And watched them die.
His family. His friends.
Complete strangers connected only by helplessness and fear.
He had knelt because he had been told to.
As a child, he had knelt.
And he had lived.
While others around him had died.
On their feet. On their knees.
And he had lived.
Until the Americans had emerged from the trees.
Dropped from the skies.
And saved them.
Years had passed. Decades.
A new world had formed around him.
One of technology. One of disassociation.
And he had kept his head down.
Never spoken of what he had endured.
Kept his thoughts and nightmares to himself.
And lived.
Freely. And quietly.
For all those who had not.
And now, another man was shouting.
Threatening.
You will always kneel.
Making him and all those more helpless around him, bend the knee.
And the old man listened to his dusty memories, his silent promises made as a starving, mud-spattered child.
Made a choice.
No more.
And rose.
"Not to men like you."
The being before him smirked, reveling in his absolute power.
"There are no men like me," the spector reassured darkly.
He stood firm, ready to finally stand and die for the right choice.
"There are always men like you," he replied, speaking as slowly and clearly as he could.
And one before him responded just as the old man knew he would.
"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example."
Against crippling fear and dread, the old Jew remained standing, finally prepared to die for the right reason.
Until an American dropped out of the sky.
And saved them all.
Loved this old guy in the movie. Was watching Avengers at 5 this morning feeding a baby.
And decided this guy deserved just a little more time.
So thanks for giving to him.
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