Shield had given them an apartment each. Since Steve had been missing for sixty six years, his wage had been placed in a bank account where it had accumulated over time. Basil had been written off as just dead, classic, but Phillip had given him access to they family money, which turned out to be quite a lot in current terms. (Inflation scared the hell of of both of them. It was freaky). But regardless of what money they had, Shield had given them two apartments in a massive building in Brooklyn. Basil had never been to Brooklyn or America before the ice so he couldn't see how it had changed. When he had gone to see Phillip, he had glimpsed snap shots of London and the change there was terrifying. So he could sympathise with what Steve felt. But even so, the man had been adamant that he would live in Brooklyn and Basil went where he did.

Their apartments were too big, too roomy and uninhabited. Whoever had furnished it kept it minimalistic and had used a colour pallet of warm browns and beiges. In all honesty it made Basil feel like he was in a furniture store. He had no personal items other than two pictures on his bedside table that Phillip had given him. One of their family before he went to war. Black and white faces smiling at the camera and another recent one of Basil sat next to Phillip. His younger brother's face smiling through his wrinkles. Other than them, there was nothing of personality there. He didn't like it and knew that Steve's apartment was the same. The blonde didn't like his either.

Basil had requested for his apartment to be directly above Steve's. The building only had two apartments per floor and he added been given what he wanted. The request had raised some eyebrows but no one had said anything. Shield merely provided them with some basic clothes and items before giving them the key. It was weird but no weirder than anything else that had happened recently.

The reason why Basil had requested the apartment to be directly above Steve's was for two reasons. 1) he preferred to be up high. And 2) he got nightmares. They both got nightmares but when Basil got nightmares he tended to fall through the floor. When he screamed himself awake just as he fell through the ceiling and landed on Steve's couch, the blonde man barely moved from his position on the carpet. He turned his head over to peer at Basil in the dark. "What was it this time?" He asked softly.

Basil sat up, hands shaking as he tried to calm down from the adrenaline the nightmare had produced. The couch had been artfully placed after the first few times he fell through the ceiling ended up with a lot of bruises. He took a few deep breaths. Steve watching him from where he was lying on the floor, a blanket thrown over his legs and a pillow behind his head. "The lab", Basil exhaled. "As usual".

"Was Bucky there this time?"

"Yeah and I watched him die from those tests but I couldn't move. I was strapped to a table as I watched him convulse from the things they injected us with". He wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve and sniffed. "The bed too soft again?" He asked.

"It's always too soft. Like a marshmallow", Steve sighed. "I see that it's the same for you". He waved a hand at the couch. If Basil had been sleeping on his bed then he would have landed in Steve's bathroom.

"Maybe we should just get rid of the beds and buy those futon things the Japanese have. I am seriously considering it. Get the blankets and pillows and make a small cave in the corner of the room with the chairs".

Steve chuckled. "Bucky and I did that in his bedroom once when we were ten. We stole all the pillows in his house and tied a blanket to his wardrobe to create shadow. His mother let use keep it up for about two days before we had to take it down again".

"I think he told me about that", Basil murmured as he grabbed a couch cushion and rolled off the sofa to join Steve on the floor. He stuck the cushion behind his head and stared up at the white ceiling. "It was one of the stories he told me when we were trying not to die. We couldn't move from the tables but we could just about turn our heads, if they hadn't strapped them down, to see each other. We would describe our symptoms and whoever was the worst that day, which was usually me. Either because Bucky was going soft on me, or I looked really bad".

"You did look like hell", Steve agreed. Basil snorted.

"Oh shove off. Well, as I was saying. The person who looked the worst could request a story and the other would tell them something. It was how we got through the nights there. Then afterwards it became our sort of thing".

"I bet most of Bucky's stories were at my expense".

"Of course they were", Basil chuckled. "I did love the one where you laughed so hard at some stupid joke that you gave yourself an asthma attack".

"Oh god Bucky didn't let me live it down for years", Steve laughed. His smile was wide in the dark. "He would turn to me and say "careful there, asthma doesn't care if you think it's funny". I don't even remember what joke it was in the first place".

Basil laughed. "When I got to be too much, he would turn to me and give me this flat eyed stare".

Steve let out a bark of laughter. "Yeah. He was great at that stare".

"He would give me this stare and just lean in close and whisper "you're being a brat Parrish". And that would make me freeze right up for about a minute". Basil was laughing now. Steve in fits of giggles next to him on the carpet.

"Sometimes he would just stare down other children when they would try and bully me. His eyes would go all icy and cold and it would make these kids freak out and loose their nerves", Steve waved his hands around as he talked. "And he would get so smug afterwards. It was so annoying".

Basil snorted. "Remember when he shot a guy who tried to sneak up on you? You turned and slanted at him in thanks. He then spent almost an hour yelling at you about how not to give away a sniper's position".

"You and the men just laughed at me behind Bucky's back like arsehole", Steve laughed. "He sounded so much like mama Barnes at that moment that it terrified me. That woman raised me almost as much as my own mother". They both laughed until their sides hurt. The mental image of Bucky telling Steve off was absolutely hilarious.

Basil giggled until the humour faded. He gasped for air, staring up at the white ceiling. It was pristine. A white shape, obviously newly painted. "Hey Steve", he voiced. There was a hum in reply. "What are we getting ourselves into? We both read the packets Fury left. Those people in there, do you think this idea will work? I mean. It doesn't seem like they would work well as a team. And fury wants you to lead that? Are you sure you can do it? The war is supposedly over now".

Steve sighed. "It might be but I don't feel like it is. I mean, this serum was given to me for a reason. I chose this so I can help people. And I want to help people. I think this team could do good. Sure they'll be a few bumps-"

"A few", Basil snorted. "Natasha seems nice but we can't know how Banner will react and Stark is a whole other story".

"I think I can handle it. I have the crazy doctor to help me". He elbowed Basil with a grin.

Basil rolled his eyes. "You know they killed off my comic character right? I 'died' just before you destroyed Schmidt, reduced to a background character as usual".

"Well that's just ridiculous".

"Tell me about it. Maybe if we go public with the whole ice thing, the hole resurrect me. Who knows?"

"Yeah". There was a long pause. Then Steve spoke softly. "I'm glad you're here Parrish. It's good to have a friend".

Basil sighed, "same Steve. Same".

Unedited