“Are you certain I must wait here?” Bucky asked, his eyes focusing on the tiled floor of the hospital’s waiting room, his hands woven tightly together, a futile attempt to calm his nerves. “I do not wish to stay, Celeste.”

        “He missed you, Bucky,” Lithium pointed out, looking to him, her eyes pleading silently. “Don’t go now. It would mean everything to him. It’s different now. He knows you’re here. There’s no point in running anymore. Just stay with me and see him. Please.”

        “What if I hurt him again?” Bucky hissed the words, his eyes strained as his gaze met hers. Outside, the storm was still raging. The pair was actually still drenched from when they’d wandered into the sterilized building, and had been given towels by the hospital staff. While still wet, they were considerably warmer than they had been.

        Lithium’s eyes were soft as she let out a gentle sigh. “Bucky, you won’t hurt him again. The storm triggered the programming, and you know it. We’re safe in here.” Faintly, a particularly loud rumble of thunder rippled through the building and it’s foundation. “It’s not as bad as it was,” Celeste insisted. “We’ll be all right. Just talk to him for a while.”

        “What can I even say?” Bucky asked, taken aback. “I could have, would have, killed him.”

        “But not because you wanted to, James,” Lithium insisted quietly. “It’s a big difference. Trust me. I understand it.”

        “It’s not the same,” Bucky told her again, the same words he’d uttered inside the storm.

        “James,” Celeste called him gently. “I saw their faces. Every single one. I saw how I walked away every time, not a care in the world. While I did not act on the programming Hydra inlaid, I do know that feeling. That essence of not having a choice because it was what they’d demanded. I know how it felt. It was a dangerous place and a dangerous time. Don’t tell me I don’t know, Bucky. I know plenty. I may not have done things they way you were forced to, but I played a hand in plenty of the deceased under Hydra’s heel.”

        “I know you did,” Bucky muttered, looking away from her again. “But you didn’t even know. If I had simply broken the trance and decided not to pull the trigger-.”

        “Then we wouldn’t be where we are, would we, James?”

        Lithium’s voice was firm, although soft, as she spoke the words. Bucky looked up from the floor to her once more, watching her. “Was our suffering really worth it?”

        Celeste offered him a weak smile. “Don’t you think it was?”

        ~~~

        Hours later, their hair still frizzy from the rainwater and humidity, Lithium sat next to Bucky, curled up on the hard plastic seat, her head against his shoulder, her hand in his, eyes closed. She’d fallen asleep against him, completely exhausted from the day’s events and everything that had come with it. More so, sleep was an important combatant against a potential overdose from the stress and anxiety that today had induced.

        Thankfully, the adrenaline had aided in keeping the symptoms at bay, and if she was lucky, a proper amount of sleep would keep it back altogether.

        A nurse came out into the waiting room, glancing at the pair briefly, and she shifted her weight uncomfortably when Bucky openly glared at her. “I, Mr. Rogers would like to see you,” she stated a bit nervously. “Both of you,” she clarified. “I can lead you to his room.”

        “Come back in a few minutes,” Bucky told her plainly.

        “He wishes to see you now,” she insisted.

        “Give us a bit of time,” Bucky insisted. “She’s tired.”

        “Yes, Sir,” the brunette nurse replied, walking back into the hallway a way to give them a shred of privacy.

        “Lithium,” Bucky called gently, nudging her shoulder. “Get up. If I’m facing him because of you, you’re coming with.”

        “Hm?” Celeste shifted her weight slowly, forcing her eyes open even though she wanted nothing to do with the conscious world. “I’m still sleepy,” she mumbled, not processing the words he’d said.

        “Steve wants to see us,” Bucky told her slowly as she righted herself and her weight, sitting up on her own. “I’m not going back there alone. Not after what I’ve done.”

        “Oh . . .” She rubbed her eyes gently, trying to wake herself up. “Okay,” Lithium murmured as she stood up. “Let’s go, then . . .”

        Bucky gave a slow nod, assessing her ability to walk and her alertness before allowing her to carry her own weight. The nurse returned shortly after a few more moments, taking the pair down the hall, making a turn to the left and stopping at the third door down: 107. “This is him,” she explained even though it was hardly needed. “He’s on a mild painkiller and an antibiotic for now. He’ll be able to go home tonight. He’s doing quite well, really, but don’t stress anything while you’re visiting.”

        “We understand,” Celeste replied with a nod, reaching for the door handle, gesturing for Bucky to enter. He paused a moment, looking at her, a few questions in his eyes, the most prominent being that of: ‘Are you certain it’s okay?’ Bucky was uncertain, to say the least, that he would be all right around Steve, more so, that Steve would be all right around him after what he’d done several times now. “It’s okay,” she whispered.

        Bucky gave a curt nod before entering the room, glancing around the space, spotting where Steve was immediately -- the blonde man had just finished dressing himself a moment ago and had folded the hospital ‘dress’ up, lying it down on the small table. He’d been watching the door in small glances since he’d heard it open.

        Upon seeing Bucky enter the room, Steve paused, his heart feeling like it had frozen in his chest. He’d fought so long for this moment, and it was so similar to the way it had been before: Steve had nearly been killed by Bucky. Only this time, when he’d been near death, it hadn’t been Bucky who’d saved him, but Celeste.

        Yet did it matter? Bucky was here. Bucky was his friend. Bucky had always been his friend. Steve could never forget the childhood they’d had, the times they’d shared and the days that had passed between them. They’d been close. They’d been good allies and even better friends. Hydra had messed so much of that up, and yet they still hadn’t done enough. Their friendship was still running strong.

        Steve smiled a little bit, utterly nervous. “So I see you’re still hanging around, Buck. Good to know.” The nervous tension in the air was thick, but he was attempting to whittle it down the best he could.

        Bucky gave a curt nod in return. “I see the same can be said of you. How’s your arm?”

        “I’ll be just fine,” the captain replied. “I’m just . . . You know what, Bucky? You’re my friend. You’ve been my best friend. I don’t care what happened, because I know it wasn’t you. And if you beat yourself up over it, I’m going to just . . . Kick your backside or something . . . But do not pull the noble card on me and say you’re leaving for my own good. We’ll always be friends. No matter what happened recently, it doesn’t change what happened before Hydra came into the picture.”

        “If you say so,” Bucky muttered, not quite convinced.

        “What did I say?” Steve asked, watching Bucky sternly. “We’ll get past it. And we’ll give Hydra a reason to shake in their boots.”

        Bucky smiled weakly. “Whatever you say, Captain.”

        “Would you two just hug already and get it over with?” Celeste asked from the doorway, a genuinely happy smile spreading across her face. “Because if you don’t, I’m gonna come over there and hug both of you, and then I’m going to force you into a hug and smush your cuteness together. Okay? Okay. Sounds like a plan. Now hug it out or I will force you to.”

        “She’s not gonna drop it,” Steve muttered.

        “I know she won’t,” Bucky murmured back.

        “Get it over with?” Steve asked.

        “Captain’s orders,” Bucky shrugged.

        Steve chuckled, his arms wrapping around Bucky’s shorter stature. “It’s good to have you back, Buck.”

        “Good to be back, Captain.” Bucky returned the embrace, and the pair shortly pulled back apart, ceasing the contact altogether, but the small comfort it had offered lingered. Celeste strode into the room, and, as promised, embraced the both of them in turn.

        “So glad to see everything working out,” she whispered against Steve’s chest. While it unnerved her a small bit, Celeste didn’t say anything about it when Steve didn’t respond to her.

        “Bucky, could you wait for us a moment? And please don’t take off again,” Steve told him, a weak smile on his face. “Just because you’re good at vanishing doesn’t mean you have to. Not anymore.”

        Bucky gave a short nod, his gaze lingering on the other two a moment before he stepped out of the room, leaving the other two alone as the door clicked shut.

        Steve took a slow breath, a bit of tension rolling off him. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew him? You knew were looking, ‘Leste. Why not just bring an end to the search?”

        Lithium sighed against him, slumping for a moment before she pulled away. “He didn’t want you to know.”

        “Why not?” Steve asked. “Why wasn’t I supposed to know? He’s my oldest friend. All I’ve wanted the past few months is to help him.”

        “He was scared of hurting you,” she explained quietly, her eyes flicking to his bandaged arm. “He didn’t want to hurt the person he’d already hurt so much. So he thought it’d be better if he just didn’t let you know he was here. He wanted me to keep it the same way. And I did, because I wanted him to be happy, and I figured he’d eventually come around to it, anyway. It may not have been the way I wanted, but you’re together again. I swear that’s what I really wanted.”

        “Why did he attack?” Steve asked. “Or are you not allowed to explain that to me, either?” The tone of his words wasn’t malicious, but the pure content of them hurt Lithium a bit.

        “The storm,” she murmured gently. “The lightning and thunder combined like that, how loud and bright it was, stirred up Hydra’s programming. It happened to me, too, but I wasn’t an assassin trained to kill people. That’s why mine was practically pointless in the storm. He really did miss you, Steve. He’s just scared of hurting the people he cares about. He has so little left.”

        “He brought you to the hospital, didn’t he?” Steve concluded, the pieces clicking into place all too well. “How did he know to find you?”

        “I don’t want to talk about it right now, Captain. Another time, okay?”

        Steve sighed, shaking his head. “I’m not sure what to think.”

        “Just remember you’re both my friends,” Celeste told him softly. “Thick or thin.”