Twin Soldiers.

Twelve: Steve.

The first night out.

The first night without the torture.

The first nightmare.

Steve jolted awake at the blood boiling scream coming from the room across his. He ran at the familiarity of your cry, bursting the door open and caking your name quietly until you woke.

He knew that the worst thing you could do to a person having a nightmare is scream as you woke them up.

"Hey, Hey, you're safe. I'm here, I gotchu." Your eyes were wide in terror as Steve kneeled at your bedside. "S-Steve?"

"Yeah, it's me. You're okay, I swear." He brushed your hair back as you curled into a ball, the metal plates in your arm shifting as you moved.

"What do you need, Y/N? Tell me what you need." You could only stare past Steve and into the darkness behind him. "Hey, look at me."

Your glassy eyes shifted to Steve's blue ones, and a sense of familiar relief came over you. "What do you need?"

"I don't know."

"Y/N-"

"Just please go..I can't hurt you, Steve."

Morning.

"Hey, kid, what's the matter?"

I smiled and turned away from the balcony when Steve's voice reached my ears.

"Nothing, I just-I have some thoughts to sort out."

"May I ask what about?" I turned to face the small boy, not much smaller than Bucky and I were at the sharp age of 16.

"About you and I."

The memory was the only one I could focus on, seeing as the events of last night were still fresh in my mind.

Steve had offered to help. He offered to get me whatever I needed but, I didn't know who to trust and who to not. I'd known Steve my entire life, but I didn't know him now. At the moment he was just a face I saw in my dream. A face that wasn't a dream at all.

"Hey, how'd you find your way up here?" I didn't turn at James' voice, just watching the cars below fly with seemingly slow speed. "You okay?"

"I had a nightmare. I saw them again, they were - they were hurting you. You were dying and I couldn't do shit to help." You paused. "Just like how useless I was when they were triggering us."

"You weren't useless, Y/N. You were fresh out of compulsion, with only a few days to try and regain your memories. People got hurt, you can't keep blaming yourself."

"How do you do it, James?" You stared out at the morning sky again. "How do you live with the weight on your shoulders? How do you get out of bed?" You whimpered, wiping the tears that fell.

"Just like you do. Slowly. Until I can remember that it wasn't my fault. I may remember it, but that doesn't mean I forget that I wasn't in control. It gets easier, Doll. I promise."

Your metal pinky collided with his and another memory surfaced.

"Pinky promise." He murmured and you could've sworn your heart fell to your feet.

This was your brother. The boy you spent almost every waking moment with, the one who helped you through everything. The one you'd defied when he'd try to make your decisions for you.

Connecting gazes with James again, you pulled each other in for a hug.

"I'm so glad I got you back."

"You need to hit harder. If you ever face Hydra agai-"

"Don't say that." You shuddered as the name left Steve's lips so simply. "Sorry."

"It's fine, just don't do it again." You'd winced as your head throbbed and took a seat where you were standing. "You okay?"

"Headache." You murmured, covering your eyes. "Maybe I should take you back upstairs?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice-whoa." The sudden absence of ground frightened you, letting out a squeal and gripping Steve's arm with your metal one.

"Ow." He murmured, watching as your grip loosened and you began to fall back into sleep.

"Sorry, Stevie."

"...You-You remember?"

"Mhm."

"We'll talk when you wake up?"

"Mhm."