“If you two are done being overgrown wusses, I suggest you go see your battered friend,” Tony prodded carelessly. “She won’t be up much longer with painkillers in her system. She may have just woken up, but she’s still got a lot of healing to do.”

        Widow was the first to walk over to Lithium, talking to her quietly, her eyes occasionally flitting over to the group. Lithium occasionally smiled at the woman, or just smiled in general. Lithium kept her eyes closed. With the blows she’d taken, Lithium was in an incredible amount of pain, and due to the modifications Hydra had made on her years ago, it gave her the symptoms of a migraine. To minimize the pain that lingered, she kept her eyes closed, her breathing beginning to steady itself out.

        Sensing a solution to be made, Widow searched for a moment before finding a suitable piece of cloth from her pack. Efficiently, she tied it around Lithium’s skull, covering the young woman’s eyes. A darkness overtook Lithium’s senses and with it, an incredible lifting of the pain that had been entering through her eyes, even when they were closed.

        “You’re a soldier, just like the rest of us,” Widow told her. “You proved where your loyalties are. And none of us are going to forget that. We’re here for you, and next time, we’ll face them together.”

        Natasha slid her hand over Lithium’s, squeezing it reassuringly before she left the bedside, allowing someone else to speak to her before she inevitably fell back into slumber.

        Sam glanced around once before walking over, standing at Lithium’s right side just as Widow had. “Hey, Lith,” he muttered quietly. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you. You’re a badass. You put your life on the line for us. I don’t know how we could ever make it up to you. I mean, we’re here for you. We’re going to kick Hydra’s sorry backside as a team. And you’re going to make a full recovery, ain’t ya? You’ve got to, Lith. I know you will. You’ve got a lot more fire left in you to burn. And it’s got Hydra’s name written all over it.”

        Lithium gave a weak smile. “Thanks, Sam . . . We’ll get ‘em together . . . Teammates . . .”

        “Badass teammates,” Sam agreed, smiling at her, even though she couldn’t see it. “Hydra’s got a hell of a nightmare coming for them.”

        “Damn right . . .” Lithium murmured, smiling up at him even though she couldn’t put much heart into it. Sam glanced up at the others before walking away from her. He noticed both Steve and Bucky watching Lithium. Both had been worried for her. Both had been concerned for her with a different sort of energy than the others. Both had noticed it. Neither could pull themselves towards Lithium because of it.

        “Would ya’ll just man the hell up and talk to her? Stop acting like she’s been cheatin’ or some shit,” Sam scolded. “Neither of you are datin’ her, and if you keep it up, neither of you will. Stop it and just go comfort the girl. Do you know what she’s been through?” Sam paused, thinking about the injuries, the experiences that both Steve and Bucky had endured. They certainly knew what it was like. “Just go,” he insisted. “Help her, even if you feel ridiculous doing it.”

        Quietly, Steve and Bucky looked at each other. Steve took a step back and gestured for Bucky to go ahead and see Lithium first.

        So, Bucky cautiously went forward, a pain haunting his eyes as he strode towards where Lithium lay silently, the only sound she made was that of her breathing. Without so much as a word, Bucky held her hand in his, just watching her for a while. He was watching for signs of pain, wanting the medicine to work.

        Bucky didn’t know what to say to her, wasn’t certain how to reassure her. It took him a moment to realize what to say, and by then, everyone else had filtered out of the room, leaving him with her.

        Taking a deep breath, Bucky leaned in closer to her and whispered, “You are better than what they made you into.”

        Lithium’s breath caught at his words, the fact that he’d used the same words she’d told him of his relationship with Hydra. He had remembered them. Had he cherished them like she’d hoped he would? The words had come straight from her heart without a filter to water them down. She’d meant every word she’d told him that day, even though she hadn’t heard his response to her before he’d vanished.

        As an answer, Lithium squeezed his hand, even though every inch of her still ached. Bucky squeezed back gently before he left her, passing Steve in the hall silently.

        Steve paused just a moment before re-entering the room and striding over to the portable, metal-framed bed where Lithium lay. “ ‘Leste?” He called gently as he came closer to her.

        “Steve . . . ?” She called back quietly, wanting to look at him, but the light burned, and the blindfold was a tremendous relief she couldn’t forsake. “Where are you . . . ?” She asked, his voice having come from over five feet away when he’d called for her.

        Steve paused, thinking about it for a moment as he came to her side. A small smile split across his lips as he looked down at her bedridden form. “On your left, Celeste.”

        She laughed softly, abruptly, her body shaking a bit from the involuntary reaction. For his sake, she bit down on her reaction to the pain and suppressed it enough that he was clueless to how much laughter had harmed her. Because even though it had hurt, this was Steve. This was the man she’d jumped off a roof for, gone crashing into stone for.

        This was the man she’d wound up in critical condition for.

        The man she’d idolized for years, who’d forgiven her for her crimes as part of Hydra, and who’d guided her to a better way of living without condition.

        She could never repay him for that.

        Pulling up a chair, Steve sat next Lithium’s nearly still form, watching her. He didn’t want to leave her. The girl had risked herself for him. Carefully, he took her hand in his, stroking his thumb over the back of hers, trying to reassure her without words that things would somehow be okay.

        “You were very brave, Soldier,” Steve assured her gently. “You did very well. Thank you for your efforts for our team . . . You . . . It’s quite possible you saved my life, ‘Leste . . .” His voice strained at the last few words. It wasn’t often he wound up in a vulnerable position like he had then. He’d been taken off guard, without a solid way to defend himself.

        “Steve . . .” Lithium held his hand a bit tighter. “You would have done the same for me. It’s not that big a deal, I mean . . . We’re a team . . . That’s what we’re here for . . . We protect each other . . .”

        “You could have been killed, ‘Leste . . . You almost were . . .” Steve clarified his thoughts, his worries that she was almost lost.

        “But you would have done the same,” Lithium repeated softly. “I’m willing to make that sacrifice because you’re important to me and to the team . . . You’re important to everyone . . . If I died saving my hero, I’d be okay with that . . .”

        “But I wouldn’t,” Steve murmured, squeezing her hand. “How would I live with myself? You’re more than just another teammate, Celeste, you’ve devoted your life to us and never gave it a second thought. A few months ago you worked for Hydra, and you gave all that up. You faked your own death, you assaulted those you once called allies, you’ve risked everything for the Avengers. You reunited me with Bucky . . . How could I live with myself if you died for me?”

        Lithium took a deep, shuddering breath. “Steve, how could I live with myself if I allowed the man who freed me from Hydra’s chains to die?”

        Steve wasn’t sure how to answer her. He wasn’t sure about much of anything. All he truly knew was that Lithium had one quality all Avengers had: a die-hard sense of what was right, and the willingness to put her life on the line for it. Not only to risk herself for morals, but for her team. No one could put a price on that. More so, no one could capture her essence in words.

        Steve only had one that he thought could even come close to describing her right now: marvelous.

        Her attitude about these risks was marvelous. And it was dangerous. Because Steve was becoming fairly certain he may just love her.

        No. He’d already loved her. But now, now Steve felt he was starting to be in love with her. It broke him a bit because he’d seen the way Bucky had looked at her.

        It was marvelous. Marvelous and dangerous. Refusing himself a moment to be selfish, Steve decided to not kiss her. Not now. He just quietly held her hand until she drifted back into a deep, restless slumber.