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
44
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"Sometimes you have to confront your past in order to confront your future."
Brooklyn, New York August, 2024
KARLI SLEPT IN THE living room on a mattress Lucy had materialized. Angeliko continued sleeping on the couch and James curled around him in a protective way, sleeping with his metal arm carefully circling his son's head. Klause retired for the night after his cup of tea, returning to the bedroom. Lucy dozed off on the ground with her pile of blankets clutched tightly between her hands.
When she awoke again, it was bright outside, the sun beaming through the windows, curtains half closed. She blinked when she felt a hand on her face, a thumb brushing something wet from her face. She lifted her head to see Henry sitting across from her, frowning deeply.
James was cooking something on the stove– pancakes– and Karli had turned the TV on with Angeliko staring at her like she was some sort of anomaly. Klause was seated at the kitchen counter, humming to himself as he typed away on his holographic phone.
Lucy turned her eyes away from them, looking at Henry again. Her brows furrowed with confusion as his hand slipped away from her. She tried to remember anything that had happened in the night. Why had she cried, again? Was it– did she have a nightmare?
She couldn't remember what it was.
"'M sorry." She mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. "I don't– what happened?"
Henry leaned back.
"You called for me." He said quietly. "I tried to wake you up, but you kept crying instead. You uh, haven't let go of me yet."
Lucy's eyes darted down to see her hand gripping painfully tight to Henry's wrist. Was he– was he bleeding? She pulled back like his skin had burned her, and Lucy looked at her nails to see dark red staining them. She stopped bile from climbing her throat, panic thrumming under her skin.
She didn't mean to hurt him– she never hurt him like that. She hadn't, even when she had nightmares, she didn't– her body always knew not to. She watched Henry wince as he wiped the blood from his skin. Her breath came out short and Henry looked at her, a soft expression forming on his face.
"It's okay." He assured. "If it bothers you that much you can heal it."
Lucy swallowed hard, trying to keep her heart from running a thousand miles a minute. She let her hand hover over his hand. His cuts started to close, leaving no trace of the prior injuries. Lucy did feel a little better, her past conditioning relaxing inside of her.
