The screams of her son brought Angela out of her slumber with a jolt, immediately throwing off her covers and running to his room.
Bren was thrashing around in his bed, screaming at the top of his lungs. Angela dove into the bed beside him trying to hold him too her. Even though he was only six, because of the super soldier serum he was extremely strong for his age. He kicked and screamed while Angela tried to gently rouse him out of his nightmare.
"Bren! Bren, meine leibe!" She said into his ear, his screams starting to abate slightly, "You're okay baby, mommy's here. I've got you. You're safe."
Bren's screams turned to sobs as he woke. It broke Angela's heart every time this happened. She sat up, leaning against the wall and pulled him into her lap, running a soothing hand over his head and telling him he was safe and okay.
The nightmares had started after Peru. They had moved so many times in his short life, each time driven from their temporary home by Talon. He was born in Stuttgart. From Stuttgart they moved to Seattle. From Seattle to Menorca. From Menorca to Peru. From Peru to Namibia. And three months ago they had been found in Namibia and fled here, to Watchpoint Basrah in Iraq.
The attack in Peru had been particularly bad. Bren had been struck by several pieces of shrapnel from a grenade as he and his mother had been running to the secure bunker. They had been out shopping at the time of the attack. Now he suffered from PTSD. He had nightmares at least once a week and was always terrified whenever they had to go out.
He was generally okay when he was playing in the Watchpoint, the happy child she loved so much. Torbjorn had tried to help. Showing up one day while they were in Luderitz, Namibia with a friendly but quirky Bastion E-34 he'd picked up a couple of years before. Bren quickly became friends with the Omnic, often reading to him from whatever book he had that day. Bastion seemed to love the boy as well, often playing games with him.
Angela had been trying for just over a year now to help him work through the trauma. He had been doing well until Talon attacked them in Namibia and they fled here. Then the nightmares got bad.
Angela looked down at her son. He'd cried himself to sleep again, tears drying on his cheeks. She scooted to the edge of the bed, picking up her son and carrying him out of his room. Bastion was in the hall, whirring and beeping worriedly.
"He'll be ok, Bastion. He just had another nightmare. I'm going to take him to my bed." She told him, trying to ease his worries.
She pushed open the door to her room in the Watchpoint, laying Bren down in her rather empty bed. Jack was off working at the moment, unable to sit by as people suffered. This time he was off in Dorado. The Los Muertos gang had taken over part of the city, running the police out of the area. They were running drugs and weapons through the city with impunity. Jack had left for the Mexican city four days ago, already showing up in the news with stories of gang members being found tied up and left for the authorities. He had called them two days ago to check in, but he didn't have much time to talk while he was on a mission.
So Angela snuggled her son close to her. It helped him to sleep after a nightmare to not be alone. Usually he snuggled down in between his parents but tonight his mother would have to do.
She made a mental note to log this latest nightmare into his medical journal before closing her eyes to try and get some sleep before morning.
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Angela listened to her son reading to Bastion and Ganymede, this time from Through the Looking Glass. The omnic seemed enthralled with the story, paying rapt attention to the boy.
She turned back to her laptop, scouring Mexican news outlets for news of Jack but found nothing new. She hoped he'd call today to let her know he was ok. It killed her that she couldn't be there, watching his back and making sure he didn't die on her for real this time, but she had to stay here. Angela gave up searching and opened up Bren's medical files. She'd been able to glean some information from Jack's redacted military records as to what the American Super Soldier project had entailed.
From what she understood they had done a gene therapy with the chosen men, causing their DNA replicates to alter the DNA during mitosis, soon all of the cells in their body were made with this enhanced DNA. But it had been different with Bren. It had started at the first cell division, changing his DNA into something better. It explained why Bren had almost two thirds of Jack's DNA, something that should have been impossible.
Angela sighed, leaning back in her chair. Now all she needed was a lab to test her hypothesis.
She stood from the table, deciding it was time for some lunch. She knew she had to go to market today, but she was putting it off because of how much it upset Bren. He was too scared to go out with so many people when he felt he may be attacked at any time, but he also didn't want his mother to leave him.
She decided on one of his favorites. Graham crackers with peanut butter and diced dates on top. He had fallen in love with dates when they had moved here to Iraq. The dates here were so fresh and delicious, strait from the trees. It was a quick meal, only taking a few minutes to prepare.
"Bren, it's time for lunch, meine leibe." She called to him.
"One minute mom! I'm almost done with this chapter." He called back, immediately diving back into the book.
Angela smiled. She went to her room, grabbing her head scarf and sunglasses, adjusting it in the mirror so it covered her platinum blond locks, effectively disguising her. She picked up her large shoulder bag from the door and pulled out her lower back holster, slipping it around her waist and securely strapping her pistol into it. Slinging the bag over her shoulder she walked back out, Bren now devouring his lunch.
"Mommy has to go to the market, love." She said gently, hoping he didn't take it as badly as he had in the past.
Bren jumped out of his seat, sprinting to his mother, grabbing her round the middle as hard as he could. Angela ran her hand over his hair, slipping a finger under his chin to make him look at her.
"We're out of milk and bread, meine leibe, and we need vegetables." She explained to him, "Bastion will be here with you. He'll keep you safe. I'll even stop by the book vendor and see if he's been able to get ahold of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe for you."
Bren looked at her sadly but loosened his grip. She knelt down in front of him, giving him a big hug and a kiss, "I'll be back before you know it."
Bren nodded, walking back to the table to finish his food. Angela smiled at him before heading for the stairs up and out of the bunker.
It was summer in Iraq, and the oppressive heat hit her as soon as she opened the bunker door. The mile long walk felt like five in the 47 degree heat, but she eventually arrived at the market.
This was one of the things she loved about Basrah. The market was a vibrant, bustling place crammed with market stalls and vendors shouting out their goods. The produce and meats were as fresh as you could get and you could find anything you could imagine if you took the time to wander the entire market. Angela particularly loved the fabrics. They had the most gorgeous silk brocades and cotton weaves. It made her wish she knew how to sew.
She went on to the produce, picking up what she needed before heading off to the butchers stall. She grabbed a leg of lamb, fresh this morning and a couple of bottles of milk from the butchers wife. Her bag was weighing on her heavily in the heat so she hurried over to the book vendor.
"Ah miss. You're back!" He greeted her warmly.
"Hello Rahaj. Have you happened to get The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in?" She asked.
"You're going to love me miss." He said, always having to flirt with her a bit when she came by, "I managed to get my hands on the whole series."
Angela gave him a blinding smile, "That's fantastic! Thank you so much." She said.
She paid him for the books, thanking him again before she left the market to hurry home, knowing Bren fretted while she was gone.
Angela pulled out her phone, calling Jack while she walked in the desert heat.
"Hey Angel." He answered, sounding tired.
"Did I wake you?" She asked worriedly.
"No I just got back in. We had quite the battle." He told her, "They were gun running and I wanted to stop them mid way and get the munitions out of their hands. Well apparently one of them had just stolen a money pouch from a girl and she was chasing after them when the fighting started."
Angela gasped.
"One of them threw a grenade. I took some shrapnel and they got away but the girl was ok. I made sure she got home." He said, reassuring her, "I went back and raided their headquarters after. They shouldn't be a problem anymore."
"Well that's good news. Do you know when you'll be back?" She asked.
"I was planning on staying a couple more days, just to make sure they're taken care of." Jack said.
"Ok. Bren had another nightmare." She told him.
Jack sighed on the other end, "Was it bad?"
"Not terrible. I was able to wake him pretty quickly." She said sadly.
Jack was silent at the other end, both of them feeling for their son's suffering.
"I'll try to be back by tomorrow night." He said.
"I'll tell Bren you'll be home soon. That should lift his spirits." Angela smiled, "I'm almost back. I'll talk with you tomorrow. Ich leibe dich." (I love you)
"I love you too." He told her before hanging up.
Angela sighed, slipping her phone back into her pocket before descending into the bunker. She opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, immediately hearing Bren squeal in joy and leaping into her arms, Bastion following behind him.
"I missed you momma." He told her, snuggled into her neck.
"I missed you to, meine leibe." She said, pressing a kiss to his head and letting him down, "Guess what?"
Bren's eyes widened in excitement, "They had my book?"
"Even better." She said, pulling the plastic wrapped box out of her bag, "He got you the whole series."
Bren squealed again, running over to show Bastion, telling him about each of the books.
"Come on, we have to go and finish Through the Looking Glass now so we can start on these!" He said bouncing next to the omnic.
Bastion beeped in agreement and they went into the other room to continue reading.
Angela shook her head, smiling at her son's joy before heading into the kitchen to put away the food.