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
32
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"Return to the past and you will find nothing but a wasteland."
Riga, Latvia July, 2024
LUCY BLEW ONTO THE shield, dust fluttering. She scrubbed at the surface, cleaning the blood off with a cloth as Sam drove over a particularly bumpy road. She could have used her abilities, but the shield deserved her hard work. After all, it had partly been her fault that the blood had found itself here— she had told Steve to give it away.
James had since nodded off, his head leaning against her shoulder as she carefully and methodically cleaned the shield. Her mind was distracted—not by the dried blood, though that was a part of it. The issue was, well, Lucy had healed James without infecting him with any of the black wisps that she'd been struggling to confine. It was good, as much as it was bad.
She was reminded for the hundredth time that she was far too strong. But it also meant she was better equipped to protect James from a sudden and quick death. A part of her was afraid of what that meant. If James were to die, would she be able to hold back? To not raise him from the dead? To not steal his soul from the land of the dead? Wouldn't she risk the balance of the universe to save James from a painful death?
Lucy let the thoughts flit away. It was not necessary for her to think of such things right now. She folded the cloth in her hand, scrubbing at another section.
Sam didn't question her as he glanced back at her every five or ten minutes. He was probably wondering why she was cleaning it by hand too. She sighed to herself as James shifted in his sleep.
Alpine, whom she'd removed from the dimension of memories, was not sitting plainly in the passenger's seat, mewing and pawing at herself as she cleaned her tail. She had been fairly grumpy when she reappeared, giving Lucy a look that must have been angry. The grumpiness all went away when she produced a few treats for her.
Sam cleared his throat.
James suddenly let out a groan.
Sam paused, brows furrowing with concern.
"Hey." He pursed his lips. "Is Bucky okay?"
Lucy turned her head to look at her husband. James's face had scrunched up, his vibranium hand clenched tightly over his knee. Her hands fell away from the shield, allowing it to lean on her thighs as she tucked James's neck into the crook of her own.
He started to whimper.
"No, no please, I'll be good." He gasped, his words slurring in his sleep. "'M sorry—'m sorry!"
