Lith groaned at the sight of the weight training equipment. “Aw . . .” She mumbled, shifting her weight on her feet. This definitely wouldn’t be much fun. She already hurt from the run that had apparently caused brain damage since she felt like the world’s biggest idiot after how many times she’d (nearly) fallen over and become acquainted with pavement.

It was even more embarrassing, though in a way, flattering, that the captain had prevented her from breaking anything. Though the backlash was that she felt like the world’s biggest burden. She quietly blamed Hydra and tried to ignore any further thoughts of them, though it wasn’t exactly easy.

Every time a shadow danced, she swore they were here. Watching her. Condemning her. ‘Stop being silly,’ she would insist. ‘They know where they sent you, but you’re always allowed plenty of time before they come for you. You can do this.’

“Come on, Lithium,” Steve spoke, interrupting her thoughts, shifting weights onto the bars, adjusting the amounts on others. “You’re not going to get any stronger just looking at the equipment. This is physical, not mental, no matter what those clowns at Hydra told you.”

She blinked, trying to shift the paranoia from her mind and gave a quick nod. It was still amazing, shocking, to think that Captain America was training her. He owed her nothing. Lithium decided not to dwell on it too long and quickly made her way over to the equipment that had taken up residence in what was evidently a second reserved hotel room. The space was void of beds or furniture. Just the equipment you would expect to find in a gym. She was beyond suspicious of how they’d been able to reserve something long-term, or how they’d gotten permission to alter it as they wanted.

‘He’s Captain America,’ she reminded herself, trying to ignore the protests her muscles made. ‘He can do anything. Who would say no to him? He’s . . . America’s Hero . . . What did I do right?’

She took a deep breath, restraining herself as Steve showed her around the machinery, demonstrated every exercise, explaining reps and sets. He then let her get a feel of the equipment while he started writing something down on sheets of paper. For a moment, she watched him, utterly curious as to what task he’d taken up now, but restrained herself and set back to the equipment and started feeling for the proper weight on each one.

Her only restriction was that she wasn’t to try the bench press unsupervised. He discouraged it with the squat bar as well, but he was adamant that he wouldn’t tolerate her attempting something dangerous without him. While he’d been demonstrating the exercise that went with the machine, he explained exactly why it was important that she didn’t do it alone.

The metal bar made a small ‘clink’ as it was removed from it’s spot. Steve held it above his head, shifting it to the space above his chest, sliding the 45 lb. bar down to graze his pecs, then back up. He continued this cycle as he spoke, Lithium watching the movement in the hopes of memorizing it. That wouldn’t be hard. She just didn’t want to earn criticism from the captain later on.

“The bench press is a dangerous thing. The bar itself is forty-five pounds. Assume you’re pushing yourself one day and you’ve added a bit more weight than you’re used to. The bar goes down,” he lowered it to demonstrate, “With ease. But when you go to lift it back up,” he started pushing it up, taking it slow to emphasize his point. “You figure out that you can’t. And shortly after, you realize you’re in for a world of trouble. Because if you can’t get that bar back into a safe position,” he put it back and sat up, looking at her in the eyes. “That bar will fall down and crush your neck. Which is why I forbid you from doing that one alone. Everything else is fine so long as you’re careful, but if I find you with your neck shattered because you’ve disobeyed, I’m not going to be happy.”

“What about the squat bar? Isn’t that one dangerous, too? I mean, it’s the same weight, isn’t it?”

Steve shook his head, standing from the bench and heading over to structure that encased a small area for squats, additional weights ranging from 2.5 to 45 pounds on either side. He stepped into the small area.

“While the squat bar does have a bit of danger of it’s own, the range of motion doesn’t go all the way down to the floor.” He shifted, sliding under the bar and propping it onto his neck and shoulders. He moved down so that his thighs were parallel to the floor, then back up. “Not only do the legs tend to be stronger than the arms and chest, but in case anything ever does happen and your legs give out,” he slid the bar off and dropped it.

Lithium jumped back, fear taking over as the heavy metal bar crashed against metal, the abrasive sound echoing off the walls. Two bars at either side of small encasement kept the metal bar from hitting the floor.

“If your legs give out, those two bars will make sure that, even if you hit the floor, the bar doesn’t. This doesn’t mean I’m encouraging you to push yourself too hard. That’s still dangerous. But I’m not as concerned with this one as I am the bench press. Do you understand everything? Any questions about the equipment, how it works, or the exercises?”

She shook her head as he lifted the bar, setting it back in it’s place with ease. “No, Sir. I think I’ve got it.”

Steve turned from the weights and stepped out of the section that was devoted to the weight bar, grabbing a clipboard, scrawling down some things. “Feel free to test out each of the machines. Push yourself as far as you feel comfortable at each station.”

‘In other words, I’m supposed to see what I can do at each whether I want to or not,’ she concluded. ‘This is what you wanted, isn’t it, Lith? Don’t give up on it now.’ With a deep breath, the brunette woman quickly set to trying each of the machines, testing the weight amounts with the ‘proper range of motion’ that Steve had shown her. It didn’t take long before she found her limits. She watched Steve for a moment, pausing in front of the bench press. After he gave a nod of approval, keeping a close eye on her, she did as many repetitions as she could manage.

Her heart nearly stopped when she quickly found out that maybe she’d pushed herself too hard. She was an inch from getting the bar back into the notch when her arms refused to listen to her brain. They wouldn’t budge any further. Just as terrifying was that while she could breathe, it was strained. Too strained to call for aid.

The bar started to drop. Lithium let out a small sound, air escaping her lungs. She hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath.

Steve was there so quickly she didn’t see where he came from. Only that her everything hurt. And that she was scared she was about to be crushed.

His grip on the bar was firm and fast, sliding the metal back into one of the durable notches so that it didn’t move anymore. It was held in place firmly, and Lithium was quick to move away from the bench, crossing her arms.

“Son of a-!” She stopped herself from saying the word that would normally follow, biting her lip, a sheen of sweat covering her forehead and plenty of the rest of her body. Not all of it was from exertion now. Her adrenaline had kicked in when the bar wouldn’t budge. The excess was now smothering rather than helpful. “I officially dislike the bench press,” she admitted, nerves on edge. It certainly didn’t help that when she was in the designated position, she felt a new kind of vulnerability. It made her want to squirm away from the piece of equipment.

The entirety of her sensitive midsection was exposed and she couldn’t move to protect it at a moment’s notice. She was stuck should anything happen, at least until she could safely get the bar back into place.

“You’ll still have to work with it,” Steve told her calmly, his eyes watching her carefully. “Are you hurt otherwise?”

“I-I um, n-no. I’m fine.” ‘Please stop staring now.’ She bit her lip, looking away from his gaze. He made her nervous. He was kind, chivalrous, caring.

That was what scared her. What made her nervous. She wasn’t used to that kind of behavior from anyone, especially men. Her trainers and superiors had tolerated her only because of what they stood to gain with her. They’d been kind, in an odd sort of way, when she’d been recruited and altered, but nothing like this. The captain seemed . . . pure.

And Lithium didn’t know how to react to that.

“Lithium?”

“Just stop talking, please.”

He paused, watching her, his head tilting slightly to the side in confusion. ‘Is this really the same girl who embraced me yesterday?’ His question echoed through his thoughts for a moment. The girl that sat in front of him now was different from the one that seemed ecstatic and giddy just at the sight of him. A frown etched his face as he pondered the change in behavior. After a moment, he wrote it off as exhaustion and muscle soreness combined with the close call that had just occurred.

It was enough reason for him to let her be in her tense silence as he went back to scrawling things across paper. He called upon what he’d observed from her, thinking all of it through. She would progress each week. For now, she would start a bit on the easy end of things to get her body adapted to pushing itself so roughly.

“All right, Lithium,” he called, the name always feeling relentlessly odd to him. But he had no other name to call her by, so he was stuck. Quietly, he wished he could call her something else. Lithium seemed . . . He couldn’t even describe it.

All he knew was he wasn’t much of a fan of the name. Some part of it bothered him. Another part of it bothered him because it was a reminder that he didn’t know her true name. And she had so far refused to release the knowledge when he brought it up.

She glanced up, her eyes almost like that of a spooked animal. Steve paused before continuing. “I have your regimen all worked out. This sheet will tell you exactly what to do. Next week I’ll have a new one made up for you. Each week you’ll see some kind of change. This is to optimize your workouts so that you get the optimal benefit from it each day. When you need to go on the bench press, just let me know. Falcon and I will likely be exercising with you every day. If nothing else, I will. That’s a promise. Do you understand what’s expected of you to do this?”

With a slow nod, Lithium stood and took the sheet, reading over the exercises he’d listed under each category. He didn’t just have them divided by what area of the body they targeted, but which day he wanted them done, and how many by reps and sets. He even added weight amounts.

“I . . . I can do this,” she said, half to herself, half to him. ‘Say it enough and it’ll be true,’ she reminded herself silently. ‘If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?’ She took a deep breath. “But there’s nothing for today.”

Steve gave a curt nod. “That’s right. You’ve been pushed enough for today. You got some weight lifting in. You’ll be fine. Just make sure you’re ready to go tomorrow. Now let’s do some stretches and you’re free to go until tomorrow.”

Lithium took a slow breath in an attempt to calm herself and nodded. Steve led her to a cleared out area, and showed her the kinds of stretches she’d need to perform every day after she was done with her workouts. Quads, calves, triceps, biceps, hamstrings, pecs, lats. He demonstrated each with ease. Lithium had a bit more difficulty, but nonetheless continued to stretch until it hurt, biting back tears as she reached for the floor, bending at the waist and refusing to let her knees crumple at the stress.

When she was done, Lithium wanted nothing more than to go back to her bed and collapse on top, sleeping for the rest of the day and well through the night. She attempted to, anyway. Her bedroom was across the hall from the captain and Sam, courtesy of the captain himself.

Around five o’clock, or so she guessed, since she was actually in too much pain to look at a clock or care what time it was, she answered a knock at her door, wincing at every step she took. “Hello?” She murmured, biting her lip as soon as the word was out, trying to distract herself from the aches that were plaguing her body.

“Good evening, Lithium,” Steve spoke, standing in the doorway, Sam close behind him. “Have you eaten yet?”

She shook her head slowly. “No, Sir. I’ve been resting.”

Sam chuckled in the background. Lithium did her best to ignore him. It was a bit easier as the AC system kicked in, causing a bit more background noise.

“Would you like to join us for dinner?”

With a few blinks, Lithium attempted to process what he was saying. “I um, are you sure that’s wise, Sir? I mean, I’m fine here. I’ll be okay alone.”

“I insist you come with us. A lady shouldn’t spend her nights in darkness.”

A brief snicker came from the man just a foot or two behind Steve. “I think she’s too sore to go out, Captain. She probably hasn’t worked out a day in her life and the first time she does it’s with you.”

A frown was quick to cross Lithium’s face and she crossed her arms. “I’ll have you know I’d love to go out tonight instead of sit by myself. Thank you for the offer, Falcon. I’ll be back in just a few minutes.” She closed the door abruptly, and Steve paused, a bit confused himself.

“What was that about?” He asked quietly, more to himself than anything, but Sam overheard him with ease.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, Cap! But I’d get comfortable if I were you. When a woman says ‘five minutes’ she really means an hour.”

Steve gave a nod, his gray-blue eyes scanning over the door that concealed Lithium’s presence before shaking his head and leaning against the wall near the door, Sam following suit. Just over twenty minutes later, Lithium opened the door again, dressed in a sapphire blue dress that clung to her curves like a second skin, but still concealed the wires that lined the cups of her bra thanks to strategic ruching. She wore a pair of silver heels, her hair brushed over her right shoulder, a large silver hair clip binding it in the middle, a silver clutch to bring it together, just a touch of foundation, blush and mascara to enhance her natural features.

“Well? Shall we go?” She asked when the men outside her door said nothing for a second or two.

Sam laughed gently. “Don’t you think you’re a bit overdressed for anything in this town?”

Lithium gave a pout and turned away from him. “Shush. It’s all they give me for missions.”

“So you’re supposed to look like a high class prostitute?”

“Wilson!” Steve immediately scolded. He didn’t appreciate anyone being called such a term. “That’s out of line.”

A slight flush crept over Lithium’s cheeks, and it blended well with the blush she’d applied.

“Oh, come on, Captain. That’s what she looks like and she probably already knows it,” Sam insisted.

“That doesn’t excuse vulgar language, or such a term being used. What has she done to you?”

“Besides stalking our target?”

Steve sighed, shaking his head. “That’s not a reason, Sam. Can we get you two to play nice sometime soon?”

Wilson shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose. As long as she doesn’t try to blow us up or something. She’s nothing like Black Widow, I’ll tell you that. Romanoff we could trust. I don’t know about her, though. Whether she gave her word or not.”

Lithium frowned. “I’m sorry you’re suspicious. Can I do anything for you?”

Sam scoffed, crossing his arms. “Can you cook? Or bake? I doubt it. A face that pretty has no reason to cook, do you? You’re going to be some millionaire's trophy wife.”

“That’s enough, Sam. Can we at least be civil for the rest of the night?” Steve raised his brows at his teammate.

Wilson sighed and gave a short nod. “I suppose, Captain. But only because you’re THE Captain America. Otherwise that suggestion would be thrown out the window.”

“Thank you, Wilson. Now where should we go?”

‘Anywhere but the diner,’ Lithium thought, shifting her weight ever so slightly. The last thing she needed was to see the James when she was in no condition to carry out her mission, even if it’s goal had changed in the last twenty-four hours.