BOOK 4 of the ORPHIC Series
DISENTHRALL
/ˌdisənˈTHrôl/
set free.
~~~~~
When Lucille 'Lucy' Opal Baker starts adjusting to a world without Captain America and more government therapy sessions...
T H E F A L C O N A N D T H E W I N T E R S O L D I E R
5
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"No one heals himself by wounding another."
Brooklyn, New York July, 2024
"JOHN, I THINK THE first thing everyone wants to know, is what is it like being Captain America?"
Lucy pulled her coat off of her shoulders as she hung it up, locking the door behind her. She tugged off her shoes, letting her purse hang on the wall. She padded over towards James, who was seated on the ground, blanket tossed to the side and Alpine in his lap. He had a beer bottle in his hand, taking a long swig of it as he stared at the TV.
She stepped over to the kitchen, pulling the fridge open and grabbing a container of strawberries. She approached James, sitting down beside him and opening it. She took James's beer from him, giving him the container instead.
James sighed, but took the strawberries anyway.
"Do eagles fly over head wherever you go?" The interviewer questioned.
Laughter filled her ears as the camera panned to show the new Captain America. They'd figured out his name was John Walker, and that he had great remarks on all of his military skills. She wondered how terrible of a military they had to hire someone like him as Captain America.
He was no assassin, that was for sure. And he definitely had no history of HYDRA. He was just a little over-the-average army soldier who managed to find himself in a surprisingly comfortable position. Well, it was life-threatening, too, but that depended on how selfless he was.
She stared.
"Uh, yes," Walker chuckled, "yeah, that and flags start majestically waving in the wind."
The interviewer smiled at him.
"And how's the tour been? I know they did a big rollout for you, right?" She asked.
It was just like Steve and the USO girls all over again, like they had to make Captain America a celebrity and not a symbol. Like they had to taint Steve's legacy with the man that stared back at them from a screen.
Lucy took a hard swig of that beer, relishing the taste of it. James chomped a little harshly on a strawberry, teeth gritting as the pair continued to watch the broadcast.
What was most upsetting was the radio silence on Sam's part. The moment the shield had been given away, Sam had stopped texting them all together. And sure, he might've been busy or he might've just given up, but the pair were both undyingly frustrated.
