[ COMPLETED ]
BOOK 2 of the ORPHIC series
MONACHOPSIS
/ˈmənˌāˌkōpˌsis/
the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place.
~~~~~
Lucille "Lucy" Opal Baker might be the unluckiest person...
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"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist."
Mexico April, 2012
LUCY WAS TIRED OF STARING at the tesseract. She'd been brought in front of the cube over a dozen times now, learning something new about its molecular structure each time. It seemed that the cube restructured itself infinitely, but no matter how many times she insisted as such to the scientists, they begged to differ.
Her desire to leave her cell had minimized completely. She didn't want to move, much less speak. She just wanted to curl up in one place and stay there forever, until someone stumbled over her dead body. The only reason she even listened to the scientists or the Commander was because Henry was there to urge her that she wouldn't be stuck there forever. That if she listened then Winter would be kept safe. That she should still live even though it was painful, because she was worth it. Because she was important to Natasha and Agent Hill; to Clint and Agent Murphy.
And most importantly Steve.
Steve was still alive and waiting for the next week he could see her. She was important to him and he was alone in this place.
Besides, she couldn't stay in her cell all day even if she tried—the guards wouldn't hesitate to beat her back into shape.
Maybe I need that, she thought dryly as she examined the tesseract's jumps in energy.
Maybe she needed someone to beat her conditioning back in it's place like hammers against loose nails. Hammers—she shuddered. She didn't need to experience that particular conditioning all over again.
She turned to the scientist a few feet behind her, telling him the different molecular forms, ones which had changed in the five minutes she'd been standing there.
"Lucy!"
She pivoted on her feet as a familiar head of short blonde hair came into view, a bow and quiver of arrows tossed over his shoulder. He was jogging towards her with a bright smile. Lucy forced herself to reciprocate the look. It didn't help the fact she wanted to turn invisible forever.
That had been utterly confusing too—the first day she'd entered everyone present at the base were HYDRA agents. But then SHIELD agents had started filling in spots and Sasha didn't appear a second time. She had to act like, well, herself again.
And it was awful.
Her mind could only take so many sudden personality jumps; she was not anything like Henry and his whiplash-ic mess. It's why it took her so long to adjust in the first place.
