The man who stalked through Hydra’s headquarters was of average height, but the way he carried himself made him seem taller than everyone else in the room. “You’re certain it was her?” He questioned calmly, thumb and forefinger gripping his chin as he paced, hardly paying any attention to the scientists, what remained of them, at least.

        This man, Evan Wolff, was Pierce’s successor. And his mind worked just as horribly as the man before him. Evan would never deny that he had fancied Lithium. She was a beautiful young woman, after all. Thanks to their training, she’d learned exactly how to play with men, too. He recalled the night he’d claimed her while Pierce had been away. She hadn’t offered any objections, but of course, she knew better. Lithium had been taught how to speak, how to tilt her head and hold the gaze of men, when to look away . . .

        Lithium had become irresistible. And Evan had taken her apparent death, possibly even her suicide, personally. He was supposed to be hers.

        “Yes Sir,” came the answer. “We double and triple-checked the surveillance footage.”

        Wolff didn’t love her. He lusted for her as though she were nothing more than his favorite toy.

        No matter. He had others and she would learn. He’d already gone through the steps for her death. Hardly a grieving process, but he’d come to accept it. Lithium was alive.

        At least, she was alive for now.

        “Send in the other one to dispose of her. Make sure her body is brought back immediately.”

        Yes, Wolff had picked up all the right tricks from Pierce. Forget the awol Winter Soldier for now. Lithium took priority at the moment.

        ~~~

        Lithium took in her breaths slowly, pulling the heavy bar down a seventh time, the muscles in her back visibly flexing at the effort. “Good job, Lith,” Bucky told her, a half-smile tugging at the corner of his lip. “It’s like you never left.”

        “Thanks, Buck,” she answered, a slight strain in her voice. In all honesty, her body had already begun to ache and they were barely halfway through the day’s circuits. The talk about her vigilante mission had been kept to a minimum once they realized that Lithium had actually had a full-on blackout. After analyzing her blood, Stark had come to the conclusion that the chemicals in her brain had caused it. The things Hydra had done just kept having domino effects, and it was driving Lithium crazy. She was afraid to feel things some days.

        Once she finished, she gently set the bar back. She’d gotten to the point where she was pulling down almost 200 lbs on that damned machine, and she was paying for her week of absence. Maybe the strain wasn’t significant, but it was just enough for Lithium to realize how much that miniature coma had taken out of her.

        She wouldn’t allow that to happen again.

        Immediately after weight lifting was sparring. Lithium’s reaction time was still up to speed, and when Bucky threw a blow for her shoulder, she slid out of the way, following with a punch to his abdomen. He caught her with a millisecond to spare, holding her wrist firmly. When she attempted a second blow, he caught that as well, his grip tightening. “Think fast, Lith,” Bucky warned her before he pushed her down to the floor, making to pin her down. Lithium quickly countered by adding to the momentum and flipping him over with her knees so that he landed on the mat with a ‘thump’, both of them facing the ceiling, his hands still holding her wrists.

        Biting her lip, Lithium squirmed away from his grip while he was stunned, her body protesting as she flipped him onto his stomach, twisting his metal arm behind his back, solidifying her arm to metal below the elbow so that he couldn’t free himself. Lithium was breathing heavily, trying not to hurt him, but also determined to win this round. It wasn’t often she got the better of any of her teammates. She tried with everything she had, but they simply had more experience.

        Shifting her weight quickly, Lithium pinned down his other arm with her knee. It seemed like a sound idea.

        Only, Bucky, like Steve, was stronger than he looked, and pushed off the ground with his human arm, standing up until Lithium lost her grip and fell onto the mat with a ‘thud’. Bucky smiled at her, a small gesture, but warm. He was glad they had the space to themselves today. “Good try, Lith,” he encouraged as he offered her his hand. “But you can’t stall when fighting a larger opponent. You have to make a move to keep them down or go for the kill.”

        Shifting the lower half of her arm back to flesh, Lithium took his extended hand and he pulled her up. Her voice caught in her throat at the word ‘kill’. While blacked out, that action was apparently not one she had an issue with, but while she still had her wits about her, it was an intimidating thing to think about.

        Lithium hadn’t been trained to kill. She had been trained to seduce and distract, not to be a murderer.

        “You all right, Lith?” Bucky placed a hand on her shoulder carefully. She didn’t answer him, just looked at the floor, the bench press, anything that wasn’t him. “Lith, look at me,” Bucky insisted, gently placing his forefinger under her chin, gently guiding her head up until she met his eyes. “It’ll be okay, okay?” Still, she couldn’t answer him. A few tears were building in her eyes. They’d told her what she’d done. She’d turned into a monster. Yes, the men she’d killed were terrible, morphing humans as they saw fit, but they had still been people. They’d still been alive.

        And Lithium had taken that life away from them in an instant.

        “I’m a monster,” she whispered, her eyes wavering. “That will never be okay.” Her voice broke a little as her guilt spilled out into those words. What would Iris think of what she’d done? Perhaps Iris would have been proud, but perhaps Iris would have shunned Lithium for her atrocious acts.

        Bucky’s breath pushed out slowly, sadly, and he pulled her close against him. “You are not the things you’ve done . . . War pushes us into situations we wouldn’t have been in otherwise. Do not assume that because you’re caught up in a war that you are somehow less than what you are. You are a beautiful soul, Lith. Always.”

        ~~~

        Lithium took a deep breath as she stood in front of the target, about a hundred yards back. “Deep breaths, Lith,” Romanoff coached. “It’s not real. Take your time. Just focus.”

        Closing her eyes, Lithium tried to focus, she really did. She stood there for a few minutes, her anxiety building every second as she tried to make the needles extend from her skin. Every passing second, she swore she could hear the ticking of a distant clock. Her breath stopped being even, but she kept trying, trying, trying . . .

        Lithium winced a moment before she screamed. “It’s pointless! I can’t make it happen again! I just can’t! I don’t know what I did last time! I don’t remember any of it!” Gripping her head, Lithium sat on the floor, squeezing her eyes shut as she pulled at her hair, wishing she could bash her own head in. It was embarrassing, mortifying, that she had some ability that could aid them against Hydra, but she couldn’t access it. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how to repeat it. When her metal became armor, it was a very specific sensation, but Lithium didn’t know what sort of feeling she was looking for this time in order to duplicate it.

        Romanoff sat with her for a while, arm draped around Lithium’s shoulders, murmuring, “It’ll be all right,” until Lithium fell asleep, the stress getting to her easily.

        ~~~

        It was hardly a restful night. Lithium kept dreaming of murder, of the blood that sprayed out of bodies upon impact with weapons -- arrows, bullets, needles . . .

        “Iris! Iris stop it! Iris stop! Please!” Lithium could hear herself scream to her deceased friend as the blonde tore through the building, searching for . . . something. Lithium didn’t know what, but bodies littered the floor from Copper’s wrath. “Iris!” Lithium tried again, tears brimming in her eyes. “ ‘Ris!”

        “We have a mission to complete, Lithium!” Iris finally answered, her eyes ablaze as she broke a table, her body shimmering as it shifted the metal just under her skin. “And if you can’t complete it with me then you’re dead weight! What are you waiting for?”

        “But-! ‘Ris it’s not-!”

        Iris slapped her then, sending Celeste stumbling to the ground, gripping her cheek firmly. “My name is Copper and you know it!”

        “Ris . . .” Lithium whimpered. That was when she noticed the faces of the bodies that were strewn across the floor. Lithium screamed, the horrifying images of Copper’s death and the shallow grave flashing in front of Lithium’s eyes.

        She shot up in her bed, the weather outside surprisingly peaceful, hauntingly so for what Lithium had just witnessed in her dreams. Without a second thought and a heart filled with grief, Lithium began to sob. It simply wasn’t fair.

        It took only seconds before her door was flung open and the captain stood there, in nothing more than shorts and a t-shirt. It was the same sort of attire he wore for training, but it felt more personal when it was the clothing he slept in.

        For a moment, Steve just watched her, approaching her bed cautiously as she cried, trying to ignore the fact that he was here.

        “ ‘Leste?” He called quietly.

        While she would’ve loved to answer him, wanted to talk to him somehow, she had nothing to say, nor did she know how to form words at this instant. He paused, waiting for her answer, but she kept her head hung, the tears dripping down onto her comforter.

        “Do you want me to go?” Steve asked softly, watching her. Lithium simply shook her head. He paused for a moment, watching her still, wishing there was something he could do. Lightning flashed in the distance, signifying that a storm was on its way. “What can I do for you, Celeste?” He hated to see his comrades suffer, to see anyone suffer. He wanted to help her.

        After a moment of trying to put herself together, Celeste choked out the words, “Stay with me.”

        With a small nod, Steve cautiously managed to slide into the bed next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “You’re cold, Celeste,” he murmured gently.

        “I’m used to it,” she whispered, not sure what else to say.

        Carefully, hoping he wasn’t making her uncomfortable, Steve pulled the blankets up around them, shifting so that Lithium was nearly completely under the covers. He pulled her closer, hoping to warm her as he pressed her against his warmer form, her head coming to rest on his chest. After a few moments of silence, Lithium’s sobs having died down and Steve’s discomfort slowly diminishing, he spoke. “Are you warmer now, Celeste?”

        Nodding slowly, she mumbled an “Mmhm,” and was otherwise silent, her face still a bit red from her nightmare.

        “And you’re certain this is okay?” Steve asked softly.

        “What do you mean?” Lithium whispered, nuzzling deeper against him.

        “For me to be in your bed . . .”

        “It’s okay,” she murmured. “I’m safe with you . . . It’s okay . . .”

        Steve gave a small nod and kissed the top of her head.

        “I know it’s different than when you were born,” she continued. “But I know you’re not going to do anything. You’re not going to hurt me. It’s just for comfort. We’re okay . . . This is okay . . . I promise . . .”

        Steve nodded again and closed his eyes, trying to relax from the implications this would have. For a few long moments, they laid in silence, and Steve was fairly certain that Lithium was asleep until she spoke again.

        “Does the pain ever get better when you lose your best friend?”

        With a sigh, Steve squeezed her gently. “It takes a while.”

        “But it’s already been a while, Cap . . .”

        “Maybe it’ll take a little longer for you,” he answered kindly. “You feel so much, ‘Leste . . . Maybe it’ll just take a while longer, but you’ll get there someday. I promise.”

        “How do you know?”

        “Because . . . I’ll be here to help you through it. Every step of the way.”