Lana had gone to bed when the door opened slowly and Bucky appeared behind it, his lips pressed together. Lana didn't say anything but sat up on the bed quickly. He sent her a slight nod before entering, closing the door carefully behind him.

He pulled off his jacket before discarding his shirt, making Lana look down. He walked around her and reached the bed, eventually settling down in it and seemingly planning to go to sleep.

"Must've been nice to have the room to yourself while I was gone," Lana commented, not looking at Bucky, who had his back turned to her; "Have the bed to yourself."

"Mh. Didn't use it all that much." His reply was short, but a part of Lana was thankful he didn't just ignore her.

"No... Cap said you'd been out a lot," Lana admitted, picking at the cast on her leg. When Bucky didn't reply, she continued. "He said you were practically killing yourself to find any leads on me."

"Well, I was never gonna hear the end of it otherwise, was I?" Bucky muttered; "Loki would kill you and when I died I'd have to listen to you whine and complain for an eternity in hell."

"I... James... Thank you," she finally breathed out; "For finding me. I don't know if I've said it properly, or at all, but... It was really scary, to be honest. Thank you for saving me."

Bucky turned around, facing her half of the bed with his eyes still closed.

"You were managing pretty well on your own," he commented.

"Yeah, but... Thank you, James," she just repeated quietly.

"You're welcome, Doll," he replied so softly she almost thought she'd imagined it. She took a deep breath and nodded to herself before lying down. She pondered a bit, looking at the ceiling before sighing.

"Do you really think you'll go to hell?" she asked softly.

"I don't even know if I believe in it," Bucky admitted, still not opening his eyes.

"But if it does exist," Lana insisted.

"I'm not arguing about whether there's a heaven and a hell. It's late, I'm tired. Sleep," he ordered.

"I'm just asking, if it's real, do you really think you'd go to hell?" she continued, ignoring him.

"Where else would I go?" Bucky asked, opening his eyes to find Lana's already focused on him, searching his face.

"The other place that starts with an h? Bit further up?" Lana suggested.

"What would I be doing there?" Bucky asked confused.

"Hang out? Play cards with God? What do I know," Lana answered with a snicker.

"I meant," Bucky corrected; "Why would I be in heaven? I'm not exactly a good person."

"Well... You did just save my life not long ago," Lana argued.

"Yes, and that was clearly a bad decision, and now I'm being punished," he replied quickly. Lana scoffed, turning to her back.

"You're mean when you're tired," she commented, closing her eyes.

"Keyword is tired, Doll. Let me sleep," he ordered. Lana accepted but shortly after sat up before getting up on one leg.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bucky asked without opening his eyes.

"I need water," Lana explained, beginning to jump towards the door. Bucky groaned but flipped the cover away and padded over the floor, grabbing her by her shoulders and turning her back to the bed before leaving the room. Lana accepted and sat down until Bucky returned, handing her the glass.

"I could've gotten it," she muttered, not drinking from it as he lied down and pulled the cover up.

"Yeah? Gonna jump back with it, too?" he asked sarcastically, correcting the pillow. Lana moved the glass to her lips but didn't drink before moving it back down, holding it in both her hands.

"James?"

"Mhm?"

"I know you asked me to leave. I know you wanted me to leave, but," her breath hitched and she took a deep breath; "I couldn't. I couldn't leave you there."

"You could have, and you should have," Bucky corrected her.

"No, James, I couldn't leave you there! You could've gotten hurt! You almost did get hurt!" Lana argued. She could feel Bucky sitting up in the bed behind her but didn't turn to him.

"I'm an agent, Lana. I'm the one who's supposed to get hurt," he explained tiredly.

"I know you're an agent, but you're also... I don't know, my friend, I guess," she admitted with a small laugh; "I couldn't just leave you!"

"I understand," he finally agreed, sighing behind her.

"You do?"

"I do. I wish to God you didn't, but... You're with me till the end of the line, aren't you?" he asked. Lana looked down at her water.

"I'm afraid so," she admitted.

"Well... The sentiments returned," he replied before lying down again.

"Why are you being so sweet?" she asked jokingly, sipping her water before placing it on the nightstand.

"I'm always sweet, you jerk," he replied, closing his eyes. Lana rolled her eyes, grinning at her friend.

"Fine. But cuddle me again and this friendship thing is over," she warned.

"I? Cuddle you? Just stay on your side, alright?" Bucky told.

"You know what?" Lana decided, sitting up and grabbing some throw pillows. "This right here is a wall. A forcefield, if you will. A border. Cross it and I commit a felony," she explained as she placed them between them, effectively separating the two.

"Fine by me," Bucky replied, making Lana huff as she lied down on her side. Bucky smiled with his eyes shut, almost happy to be hidden by the pillows. He listened to Lana shift a little, listened to her yawn, and eventually listened to her breaths even out and reach a calm and serene state. He whispered her name, but when he got no reply, he carefully grabbed the pillows, tossing them to the floor before scooting closer to Lana, who instantly crawled into his embrace, placing her head on his chest. He played with her soft hair as he fell asleep, happy with the fact that even if nothing else, she was safe right then and there.

Bucky awoke suddenly, gasping for air as if he'd been underwater. A gentle voice tried to calm him down next to him, but he couldn't see Lana in the dark.

"What - what happened?" he breathed out, only then noticing the arms around him and the soft strokes down his arm.

"You had a nightmare," Lana explained, pulling away a little to look at him.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, sitting up and rubbing his face.

"No, no, don't... Don't apologise," Lana replied, removing herself to let Bucky breathe.

"I woke you?" he checked, not daring to look at her concerned eyes roaming him for any signs of his health. She nodded wordlessly even though he wasn't looking.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" she suggested unsurely.

"Don't think I can," Bucky admitted, laughing humourlessly; "You should, though."

"Not that tired," Lana claimed; "Help me up?". Bucky furrowed his eyebrows but did as told, but let her put her hand over his shoulder.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked as she started humping through the room.

"Kitchen."

"Why?"

"Because that's where the tea is," Lana pointed out logically.

"I don't want tea," Bucky muttered.

"Who said anything about you?" Lana teased. Bucky rolled his eyes at her.

"This is taking forever," he decided, lifting her up. Lana yelped, immediately gathering her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall.

"Give a girl a little warning, won't ya?!" she hissed, holding on for dear life as Bucky walked down the hallway entirely unphased. As they reached the kitchen, he let her down gently, allowing her to find her balance before letting go. He figured he'd have to help her back to the room, not to mention the fact that it was the middle of the night and he didn't have much better to do anyway, so he slid out one of the kitchen chairs and sat down as Lana prepared the kettle. Bucky folded his arms on the table before letting his head down, closing his eyes with a sigh.

He sat for a while before something was placed in front of him, and he looked up to see a cup of tea in front of him.

"Why are you being so nice?" he asked, looking at the steam rising from the cup.

"I'm always nice, you jerk," Lana replied, repeating his ways from the day before.

"You don't need to stay up with me just because I had a nightmare," he told her, raising his eyebrows; "I can handle it."

"I know, and I'm not. I'm staying up with you because you're my friend," Lana explained, sitting down across from him with her own cup of tea. Bucky just hummed in response, grabbing the tea and warming his hands on it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lana offered slowly. Bucky sighed and looked up.

"I've done a lot of things, Doll. A lot of bad things," he just said.

"That's what you dreamt about?" she asked, taking a careful sip from her tea.

"No," Bucky replied quickly, looking away; "I... It wasn't about the bad things, it was about the bad people."

"Hydra?" Lana asked, Bucky nodding.

"How much do you know about them?" he asked her, watching her shrug slightly.

"Not much. Not more than anyone else, if that's what you mean," she added.

"Your dad hasn't told you anything?" Bucky asked, making Lana laugh slightly. She thought back to her first night back in America and her conversations with Steve.

"I know that... They experimented on you," she told, watching him to see if he'd react to her words. He didn't. His blank stare remained fixated on her, but there was no change in his expression, and so she continued slowly, ready to stop at any time.

"I know you got away. I know you stayed under the radar so they wouldn't find you, and I know that, apparently, now they did find you," she finished.

"Steve told me about your theory," Bucky changed the subject; "That they noticed me when you were gone? Clever, Doll."

"I could be wrong," Lana mentioned, looking at her mug. Bucky looked at his own, not daring to tell her the truth. That she was absolutely right, and that now that they'd found him, they would stop at nothing. They didn't care if something or someone was in the way.

"That's what triggered it? That guy?" she asked him. He didn't reply.

"He's not going to get to you, James. You have the entire team, they'd do anything to protect you," she reminded.

"And you?" he asked, the words slipping out before he could stop them. Lana looked surprised by his question but answered seriously.

"I would do anything to help you. I would sacrifice myself if it meant saving you," she told, looking him in the eyes.

"That's what I was afraid of," Bucky muttered, looking away. Lana furrowed her eyebrows, gesturing for him to explain.

"You almost got hurt, Doll," he explained with a sigh.

"I did get hurt by Loki. I can get hurt for a lot of reasons, but you're one of the reasons that might be worth it," she admitted, Bucky shaking his head.

"It's not. It's not worth it, Doll. I'm not worth it," he urged. She just smiled at him.

"Should've thought about that before saving my life. Now you're stuck with me," she pointed out.

"What? I saved your life, now you owe me some debt?" he asked, making Lana laugh.

"No, you saved my life, now I'm officially your problem. If you don't like it, you should've let me perish," she explained.

"I'm pretty certain that's not how it works," he told, laughing slightly.

"Well, because of you I'm alive and well so I can say stupid stuff. Don't like it, kill me," she suggested lightly. Bucky's laugh turned into a calm smile.

"Never," he promised.