Never Flinch Twice (Version 2)

Intro

Three a.m., city breathin' smoke

Grid of gold teeth, every window a ghost

Never flinch twice, that's the code I wrote

Verse

Streetlight strobe on the hood of the Cutlass

Block still hot from the day but it's ruthless

Twelve floors up, I don't sleep, I calculate

Every shadow on the wall got a bounty rate

Corner boys countin' twenties like a metronome

Traffic light blinkin' yellow, I'm never home

Concrete's cracked but the pipeline's flowin' steady

Every step that I take gotta stay ready

Flinched one time back in oh-nine, lost the block

Learned the hard way that the silence costs a lot

Now I move quiet like the fog off the river

Cold air bite but it don't make me shiver

Chrome on my hip, city hummin' like a wire

Every red light is a test, I don't tire

Never blink when the sirens start to hum

Never flinch twice, I just become

Chorus

Never flinch twice, city lights don't sleep

Cold in my veins but my word I keep

Shadows move quiet, I move deeper

Never flinch twice, I'm the city's keeper

Never flinch twice, echoes down the street

Never flinch twice, heartbeat on repeat

Verse

Four a.m. diner, coffee black as tar

Neon sign flickers like a dying star

Waitress knows my order, never asks my name

Every night's the same but I still play the game

Fire escape ladder, climb up to the roof

City spread beneath me, cold, hard, uncouth

Count the water towers like they're marking time

Every one a witness to a different crime

Phone buzzes once, I already know the score

Business never closes, it just shifts the floor

Alley cats scatter when my boots hit gravel

Every step precise, no room to unravel

Been through blocks that swallow weaker men whole

Kept my nerve steady, kept my mind in control

Never let the city see me sweat or shake

Every move calculated, no room for a mistake

Chorus

Never flinch twice, city lights don't sleep

Cold in my veins but my word I keep

Shadows move quiet, I move deeper

Never flinch twice, I'm the city's keeper

Never flinch twice, echoes down the street

Never flinch twice, heartbeat on repeat

Bridge

Used to think the fear was armor, kept me sharp

Now I know it's just a shadow, just a spark

Real strength ain't the absence of the shiver

It's standin' still when the whole block's a river

Rushin' past you, tryna pull you down

Never flinch twice, I still hold my ground

Outro

City exhale, morning breaks the gray

Concrete still remembers every word I say

Never flinch twice, that's the price I paid

Young Fracture standin' tall, unafraid