~~~

“Do  you think this is real, Iris?” She whispered, her pale blue eyes alight as she glanced over to the girl at her side. Both were fairly average looking, a few select features giving them an edge in the realm of appearances.

“I think we’re lucky,” Iris replied, her blonde hair an equally long length to that of her brunette companion, reaching to the bottom of her ribcage. A smile was prevalent on Iris’s face, as was the same on her friend’s as they waited outside the large tubes, scientists buzzing about the area, testing this and that. The pair could hear a voice over the intercom, one with a thick European accent; German, perhaps? But they never saw the scientist himself in person. He was little more than an ever present being they couldn’t actually pinpoint.

Iris felt her friend grip her hand and squeeze it hard, nervousness settling into her body, deep beneath her bones. “We’re going to be like him, Ris . . . We’re going to . . . To be different . . . We’ll be heroes . . .” The brunette’s smile grew. “We’re going to make a difference. We’ll make him proud . . . Wherever he is . . .”

Iris gave a nod and smiled as they were instructed to step into their respective chambers. “We’re going to have each other. Always.” Reluctantly, Iris slid her hand away and stepped inside the large tube in front of her. The brunette did the same and followed her friend’s lead. The doors were closed.

Not five seconds later, the screams began.

~~~

“From now on, you will be known as Lithium,” Pierce instructed, glancing at the brunette. He then turned to the blonde. “And you will be Copper. Forget your past names. You have given yourselves to the organization, and will be treated accordingly. You will have tasks to complete to prove your worth and to put your talents to work. Are we understood?”

The two girls that sat in front of him were very different from the ones that had gone into those tubes just hours ago. They’d been given a bit of time to recover from their change, but no longer than necessary. The infusion had been taxing and painful, but the girls, barely aged eighteen, were now quite attractive rather than average. It had been only one aspect of the transformation that had taken place. Their eyes were larger, brighter, their hair smooth and shimmering, their complexions naturally free of any blemishes or unsightly craters. Their bodies were near perfect proportions and a natural tightness encompassing them that made them look like they put great care into their appearance.

A subtle glow exuded from both of them. Their skin reflected a bit more light than it should’ve, more so under the harsh lighting of the lab. It was an effect of the changes they’d been given, that neither Lithium nor Copper had fought. Changes that Lithium and Copper had embraced, actually.

“Yes, Sir. We understand,” Copper said with a nod. “We’ll do as we’re told. We imagined such would be the new norm.”

Pierce looked at Lithium expectantly, and she stiffened a bit before nodding adamantly. “Of course, Sir! We’ll do our best. Cross our hearts and hope to die! Well, not hope to die, because that would be horrible, but you know what I mean, right? We’re very devoted. We’ll do everything we can. Promise.”

“Good . . .” He replied, his tone skeptical of Lithium’s rambling. She’d been excitable before the change, as well, and he supposed that a physical change wasn’t going to fix that which was emotional and mental. He’d already talked to the scientists about that particular trait of hers. “We’ll contact you in a matter of days, once you learn how to live with your new selves.”

He left without saying another word, and without giving the opportunity for either Lithium or Copper to say anything else in turn. At least, not to him.

“Ohmygosh, I-, I mean, Copper! This is so cool! We’re . . .” Lithium glanced over at the ceiling-to-floor length mirror, blinking a few times. “We’re just gorgeous! I mean, we were pretty before, and now we’re like, we could be on the cover of magazines gorgeous and . . . I always thought you were beautiful, Ris . . . I’m glad we went through this together . . . You’re like a sister to me and I would’ve been so scared if it had only been one of us. Thank you for always being my friend.”

Copper sighed, reaching for Lithium’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I will always be your friend, Lith. We’re going to go through a lot. And it won’t be easy. But we’ll have each other and we’re going to come out stronger than we went in. And I don’t know what happened to the Captain, but if he knew what we were doing . . . I feel like he’d be proud of why we’re doing this. I know he’d understand.”

Lithium smiled, squeezing Copper’s hand back. “We’re going to be like real superheroes, huh?”

Copper’s smile was gentle as she looked at Lithium, the friend she’d always felt extraordinarily protective of. “We are.”

~~~

Months later, nearly a year later, the pair had been trained to be a deadly, well-oiled machine. Their appearance spelt doom for whatever target they had that night, week, or month. One thing was sure: they were almost always being kept busy with one person or another. It was a constant game of cat and mouse. And they were the cats dressed in mouse costume, springing a trap when the mice least thought it possible. And they always left once the others showed up. Copper always insisted on it, and Lithium went along because she didn’t have any desire to stay behind, anyway. What was the point in dragging out their mission when they could be reporting back to their superiors about how well it went?

May 12th, a Saturday night, was the night it went wrong. That was the night everything went downhill, spiraling out of control, all because of a simple mistake. The night’s mission only required one of them, preferred only one of them, really, so the girl’s played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who would be taking the task.

Copper won. So she went off to distract the troublemaking politician. Lithium sat down in the hotel lobby, drinking kitty cocktails in a watercolor blue and pink dress that barely fell past mid-thigh and hugged her curves just enough to give her a sultry look without giving everything away.

That was when he approached her. At the bar. Lithium couldn’t remember exactly what happened. Only that he’d gotten her laughing, and soon enough, he’d invited her up to his room for ‘movies’. And Lithium, while not stupid, was naive enough to believe it was an innocent invitation, despite the way his hand had been creeping up against her thigh, to the hem of her dress.

Within minutes, the pair were inside an otherwise empty room, the handsome young man had Lithium on the bed, kissing her and kissing her. His hands were roaming against the contours of her body, drifting a bit too far north and south of her abdomen for Lithium’s comfort.

“Wait,” she protested gently, pressing her hands against his wrists. “I don’t want to do that. I’m not ready.”

He only met her disapproval with a grin. “I can get you ready,” he insisted, kissing her neck, his hands brushing against her breasts again.

“Please stop,” Lithium told him, pulling his hands away again. “That’s not what I agreed to.”

The young man laughed. “Oh, I think you did. Dressed like that, hanging out in a bar . . . Do you need money to get started? Is that the problem? I can pay. And I can pay well. But if you want to keep fighting me, that’s okay . . . I like it a bit . . . rough . . .” His teeth grazed over the delicate skin of her neck, biting down gently at first, then gradually applying more pressure. “If you wanna scream I’ll make sure no one calls the cops . . .”

“Stop!” Lithium insisted, pushing him, jerking his hands away. “I don’t like this. Really. Now knock it off.”

He frowned. “You came here of your own free will . . . You said yes . . . You have no right to change your mind now.” He reached for her again. Lithium’s reaction was instinctual.

“No!” She screamed, tensing, reaching for the small switch she kept covered, concealed and with her at all times. But she didn’t need Hydra’s back-up. She had her own. That fact was very clear when the door splintered under an immense pressure and sprung open, the lock fractured and broken.

Copper’s image was a blur as she swept across the room and threw the young man off Lithium, off the bed, across the room entirely and into the wall. Through the wall was more like it. A large hole was left where he’d made impact, and light filtered in from the space next door. Copper glared at where he’d vanished for a moment, then looked over at Lithium, who held the switch in her hands. It wasn’t covered anymore and the small knob had been shifted.

“Lith . . . Tell me you didn’t do that . . .”

The brunette quickly glanced down at her hands. “I-I . . . I didn’t mean to . . . It was instinctual . . . I’m sorry, Copper, I know it’s premature . . . I just . . . It just happened. I was scared.”

“So am I, Lithium . . . So am I . . .” Copper admitted sadly, her shoulders slumping. It was a matter of minutes before the area was swarmed with Hydra members, the ones who always came when the switch was flipped and the mission was over. Only now, one of their girls had broken one of the most important guidelines they’d been given: not to expose themselves.

~~~

“He was dangerous!” Copper argued, Lithium sitting quietly at her side. “He would have been a rapist! I saved Lithium and who knows how many other women!”

“And for that, we commend you, but now people are asking questions. Questions we can’t afford. I’m afraid you two are going to have to lie low for a while, or the people who saw you at the hotel that night are going to wonder. After all, Copper, your original target was only a few doors down from the young man you’ve put into a coma and given serious internal injuries. The doctors say he’ll be lucky if he survives the week,” Pierce lectured, looking relaxed despite the pressure of the situation. “Regardless, you two are off the scene for some time now. At least until this blows over and no one will notice what you’re doing again.”

Copper frowned, shaking her head. “Fine. But we should still be about town or people are going to notice our sudden absence and reappearance. Plenty of the bartenders know us quite well.”

“Hm. Perhaps too well,” he concluded. Copper frowned, shaking her head, waiting to be dismissed before taking Lithium’s hand and stalking from the room. She would always protect Lithium. Or at least try.

~~~

The day had been ordinary, despite the pair not having a target for the last three weeks. But walking around town, doing the things they’d been too busy to do when they had people to pinpoint, was nice. It was peaceful. Lithium was jabbering away as they walked down the street, a few bags in their arms. “And so they gave me this new injection, and I’m not sure what the scientist said it’s supposed to do, I’m not even sure if he specified, but I know it’s some kind of weird, and Pierce said it’s for the best. He also mentioned something about how in folklore, silver bullets are used to kill werewolves, and-. Copper, are you listening?”

Lithium paused and turned around to look behind her. The street was deserted, which should have registered as odd in Lithium’s mind but it took her a moment to realize anything at all. It took longer than it should’ve to realize that Copper was bent over on the sidewalk, and that the pool of red underneath was from Copper herself. Not from some strange source, but because Copper was bleeding out.

“Iris!” Lithium called out, starting to run back, but she didn’t even make it two steps before the near-silent sound of a bullet whipping through air hit her ears, followed by an immense pain in her calf. She inhaled sharply, a blinding pain hitting her as she fell to her knees. As quickly as she could manage, Lithium looked back up, only to hear that sound again, of what imitated air tearing ever so subtly, followed by a small spray of red from Copper’s back near her spine.

Copper fell from her knees face-first onto the pavement. “I-Iris!” Lithium stammered, trying to stand again, but another bullet ripped across distance and struck her in the back of the thigh. She fell back down, tears blurring her vision. “I . . . I .  . Ris . . .” The tears began to slide down Lithium’s cheeks, and she began crawling very carefully towards her fallen friend. “P-please . . .”

“L-Leste . . .” Copper murmured, pressing her hands against the concrete, pulling herself towards the sound of her friend’s voice with what she had left.

“I-I’m sorry, Ris . . .” A few sobs began to hit Lithium, and she tried to suppress them, knowing if they started now, they probably wouldn’t stop until it was too late to say goodbye. “I’m so sorry . . . I-I just kept . . . W-walking and . . .”

“It’s ok-kay, Leste . . .” Copper murmured, giving up on moving any further. Lithium frowned, another bullet grazing her leg, the shot of pain causing her to fall to the pavement. Lithium stretched her arm out, feeling for Copper’s hand. Lithium could barely graze Copper’s fingertips. With a frown, Lithium forced herself up a bit, and pulled herself forward, collapsing again near Copper. Near enough that they could whisper as Lithium squeezed Copper’s hand in her own, firmly so that her friend would know she wasn’t alone.

“I-I-I’m so . . . Sorry . . . Ris . . . Please st-stay with me . . .”

“It . . . Hurts . . . Leste . . . I can’t . . .” Copper drew in a sharp breath, and Lithium squeezed her eyes shut, beginning to sob again.

“Please, Ris, don’t go . . .”

“Le-este . . .”

“Please . . .”

“I . . . Love you . . . Always . . . Don’t forget . . . Why . . .” Another bullet ripped through the air, and a small spray of blood flew as it drove itself into Copper’s chest, through her spine. The blonde girl stopped breathing. The brunette girl screamed through her sobs in the vacant street.

~~~

It wasn’t long before Lithium heard footsteps on the pavement. She was numb from the pain by the time Pierce had decided to show himself. “That’s your lesson, Lithium. Show anyone what you really are, and that departure will feel easy compared to when they call you a freak and walk away.”

“But . . . But I’m like him! It’s for the good of humanity! I gave up my everything to be this-!” She protested, tears threatening her eyes again.

“Try making them understand that when they notice how you different you are. When they notice what strange abilities you have. That’s why we’re all you have. We understand you. Understood?”

“B-but she . . . She’s . . .”

“Dead. Get over it.”

Lithium hadn’t even let go of Copper’s hand. She couldn’t bear to let go. Because if she let go, she would never get to hold her hand again -- the hand of the girl who she considered a sister, and who had done so much for her. Who had saved her at the risk of her own neck.

And now she was gone. Dead. Lithium didn’t move for a while. She couldn’t, not just because of the wounds that were benign though painful, but because she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving behind Copper, Iris, for good.