When Hector eased it off, Cap felt no pang, no bite of cold iron, nothing but the sudden lightness as his leg was liberated from the heavy appendage. The hand holding his leg remained gentle, but Hector didn’t lower it like Cap expected. He set aside the prosthetic and focused on Cap’s stump instead.
Cap had hated it at first. He knew it was necessary. His foot had been mangled and useless. But even after they amputated, he lived with the burns and the aches that had tortured him those first few days after the bombing like they hadn’t done a thing. What was the point? he’d wanted to rail. Especially since the scars snaked up to his knee, livid reminders of what he’d lost.
And he never meant his damn foot.
Now, the tissue had toughened up to bear his weight with more ease. The cup attach
