Lithium shifted against him. Slowly, quietly at first. Small noises escaped her as her mind churned, the vise around her chest slowly tightening its grip. Gradually, she felt as though she was being crushed as the nightmares crashed around her like the tide coming in, heavy waters swirling around her.

        Only it was worse.

        At least she could rationalize how to escape water.

        ~~~

        The blow came swiftly to her cheek. The stinging was only outweighed by the ringing that now filled her skull. “St-stop,” she stammered, body shaking with a combination of fear, pain, and rage.

        “You disobeyed,” Pierce told her, the words hitting her like they had so many times before. But she had always been so well behaved with him. She had always been so good. The perfect little pawn in his game.

        “He hurt her,” she argued, fists clenching tightly. “He would’ve murder-, murdered, her. I was not going to, wait, and watch. Isn’t that, what you wanted from us?”

        “He was not the target!” Pierce snapped, slapping her again.

        In the back of her mouth, she could taste blood. “I-I will not, leave her!” She argued fiercely, refusing to give in on the issue. “She, n-needs me!”

        “We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?”

        She screamed, the bits of metal surfacing to her skin and she flung them outward towards him, the corrupt madman known as Alexander Pierce.

        Only one grazed him when he hit the polarity reverser. For a moment, the metal hung in the air, suspended, then dropped to the floor harmlessly.

        “We haven’t quite perfected it yet, but I figured you may get . . . Out of hand. Good thing, now isn’t it?”

        Snarling, she glared at him, bristling. “I’ll kill you some day, mark my words . . .”

        “You’re going to be wasting your time,” he answered, slamming the door as he left her in the room alone.

        Screaming, she flung more pellets at the door, small dents left from her rage. Frustrated, she rose, fists clenched tight as she strode to the mirror to inspect the damage he’d done to her cheek.

        Lithium was shocked to see she was not herself.

        Literally.

        Copper stared back at her in the mirror.

        The next thing she knew was in searing pain and there were near-silent gunshots that pierced the still air of the normally busy streets.

        ~~~

        Lithium groaned, whimpering as she curled up tighter against herself, a few tears sticking to her cheeks as she buried her face against the pillow. “No,” she whispered softly, her voice cracking. “Stop.”

        ~~~

        Copper screamed, jolting up from where she lay on her cot, eyes darting around the encased area that she’d come to live in. From beyond the wall, Bucky’s eyes lingered on her for a moment, assessing her condition. After a few seconds, he stood, turning on the intercom, Copper’s breath coming heavy and strained, fingernails digging into the skin of her palms.

        “Are you all right?” 

        “What do you care?” She snapped viciously, her strict defense mechanism kicking in without falter.

        “You look unwell,” Bucky answered plainly.

        “It doesn’t matter!” Copper shot back, refusing to look up to him.

        “What did you remember?” He asked plainly, the haunted look in her eyes all too familiar.

        With a scoff, she turned away from him, hair veiling over her face. “Nothing. It was just a dream. Or a false memory. It’s not possible.”

        “What isn’t possible?” Bucky pressed, hoping she was close to a breakthrough.

        “I said it isn’t possible, stop pestering me!” She snapped again, snarling as she glared at him. However, Bucky didn’t see the vicious resent in her eyes, he saw the vulnerability and the fear. A fear that she’d been ensnared in falsehood.

        “What did you dream?” He asked again.

        With a deep breath, she bit her lip, shaking her head a moment before the words spilled from her mouth, eyes clenched shut. “I saw . . . Me. Fighting off some disgusting man who was . . . Who was hurting her. Lithium. Celeste. He was doing terrible things. Would’ve done more. And then . . . Then Pierce . . . He hurt her . . . He hurt . . . Me for what I did. But I wasn’t me. I was her. I was Celeste. And he . . . Made me dig a grave in the pouring rain. And then he . . . I . . . I died . . . God, the grief was unbearable! And then . . . Everything! I saw every god damned thing between now and then in fast forward!”

        Her breath came sharply as Copper’s eyes shot open. “Good God I nearly killed her! ‘Leste!” Copper leapt off the bed without hesitation, pounding against the wall that separated her from the outside world. “Let me out! I have to see her!”

        “I can’t without permission from the Captain,” Bucky told her calmly, watching as the tears brimmed against Copper’s eyes, a flood of memories and emotions crashing around her. It had been like a dam had broken, and all of a sudden the desert of her old life had turned into a jungle. “I’ll check with him first thing in the morning.”

        “It is morning! Let me out! ‘Leste needs me!”

        “It’s 3 A.M.,” he corrected calmly. “An ungodly hour to be bothering someone who needs their rest.”

        “I don’t care! ‘Leste needs me!”

        “She’ll be fine, Copper! She’s resting!”

        “Hydra’s on their way, you bastard! Do you know what they do to traitors? Let me out!”

        ~~~

        Lithium groaned, quietly at first, but her soft whines and whimpers grew louder as the seconds ticked by.

        “ ‘Leste?” The captain asked softly. “Are you okay?”

        No answer, just accelerated breathing and louder noises.

        “ ‘Leste? Wake up, ‘Leste. Come on, it’ll be okay . . .”

        She sat up abruptly, eyes wide and wild, darting around the room as her chest heaved.

        “Celeste,” Steve called gently, taking her hand first, slowly pulling her gently against his chest. “It’ll be okay. I’ve got you.” Lithium curled up against him tightly, her body shaking slightly. Gently, Steve slid his hand over her back. “I’ve got you. It’ll be all right. Just breathe with me. Just breathe.”

        With a small nod, Lithium wrapped her arms around him tightly, losing herself in him, just for a little while. “I saw what they did to her. Felt it. All of it.”