ashed over him a world removed from the quiet fury growing inside him since John had tried to kill him. The insight he gained from that conversati

ashed him a smile that sliced through the stress of the pa

ed around the room, taking in the warm disarray of domesticity. Clara's eye contact spoke of de

ery meal, they reflected upon the connections that stitched together their family those shared smiles, a bastion against the challenges of their life. Even his fa

got up from the din of family and joined him on the sofa, and he poured out his heavy thoughts that were haunting hi

ognize that healing isn't linear. It doesn't follow a definite path. It is messy, and at times irregular. But then whe

d that he had been avoiding asking for help, seeing it a sign of w

fixed on the screen, where the news broadcast had zeroed in on disturbances not far from their neighb

it. You must not forget your position in all this. "Too many memo

epiphany: he didn't always have to be the alpha soldier in any given situation. The

stillness, John's face swept through his mind, the layers of their past folding over into the present. There was a flash of the

olto shining with worry. "You okay?" she said, and he felt

knew without words. And for the first time in a long time, he felt hope mottle

warmth and solidity of family a narrative he was starting to plot out through the chaos of his past. The journey

as the kind of tired that felt like a day well lived, not a battle that was still runni

tethering his deviance to his virtues, e