Shadows of War
War did not wait for the wounded. Days passed in a blur as Celeste found herself swept into the heart of the fight against HYDRA. The Howling Commandos took her in, cautious yet willing, guided by Steve’s trust. But trust was fragile, and questions followed her like a shadow.
She trained, honing reflexes she barely understood. Her movements were too precise, too instinctual for someone without memory of training. She was a warrior—she knew it in the way her body reacted to combat, in the way she wielded a blade of pure light as if it had always been in her hands.
Bucky watched her closely. He saw the way she hesitated before striking, the flickers of something unspoken behind her eyes. He understood what it meant to be an enigma even to yourself.
“You fight like you’ve done this before,” he remarked one evening, leaning against a tent post as she practiced.
“I don’t remember learning.” Her voice was quiet, laced with frustration. “But my body does.”
Bucky nodded, eyes dark with understanding. “That’s the worst part, isn’t it? Knowing you’ve been shaped into something… but not knowing how.”
She met his gaze, and for a fleeting moment, they weren’t strangers forged in war. They were just two lost souls, searching for pieces of themselves in the battlefield’s fire.
The next mission loomed—an assault on a HYDRA stronghold. As Celeste prepared, gripping the hilt of her luminous weapon, a single thought lingered in her mind:
The past was coming for her. And she wasn’t sure if she was ready to remember.