This is a fan made story. I don't own the rights to Captain America, any of its characters or any characters within the MCU… Much to my disappointment. This will have some violent content and possible triggers. Steve/Bucky slow build relationship. Constructive criticism is welcome but if you don't like it simply because you don't like the line of thinking, please don't attack me for it.

Chapter 2: Settling In

Bucky froze at the entrance to the rooms Steve had led him to. Within was a room that looked more like a large apartment rather than a single bedroom like Bucky was expecting. One of the walls was almost solid glass with a small terrace on the other side. The terrace held a tiny table and two chairs. The room itself held a full living room set on one half and a kitchenette on the other. The living room portion had three doors leading off from there.

"So… this is supposed to be our rooms? Kinda a lot of space for just the two of us. Our old place was less than half this room alone," Bucky finally commented as he entered.

"Yeah. It took me some getting used to as well. You should have seen the first place SHIELD set me up in. I was this size but located in Manhattan. It was insane. The last place before that that I lived in was a tent. Heck, our old place was nice compared to the frozen camps we had. Then, suddenly I went from a time when have an ice box was a luxury only the wealthiest could afford to being a common household appliance that everyone is expected to have. Being on ice for 70 plus years does show how much the world can change though. Still no flying cars like Howard promised though," Steve stopped when he realized he was rambling and Bucky had been more interested in exploring the kitchenette than listening to him.

Bucky focused mostly on the microwave and toaster as those were things he was completely baffled by. The refrigerator and oven were expected. He had encountered mini iceboxes while staying in motels during prolonged assignments and ovens were around even before the war, though not nearly this advanced. He had even seen a few coffee makers in the more recent years for his assignments, though he had never actually used one.

"It feels way too over the top. I guess that the bedrooms are just as extravagant?" Bucky finally said pulling himself away from the kitchenette and looking at Steve to realized his friend wore an almost pained expression. "What?"

"Huh? Nothing," Steve seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had fallen into. "This isn't that fancy really. You should see Stark Tower in New York. Tony gave us all each our own floor. I have a personal gym on my floor. Never mind that the tech is probably some of the most advanced in the world and there is essentially a Computer butler…" Steve stopped again when he noticed Bucky frowning. "Sorry, didn't mean to ramble like that. I guess I'm just a little nervous. It has been so long since we got to actually spend time together I feel like I don't know what to say."

"Sorry… you know… for costing you your previous home. Um… which room is mine?" Bucky had turned extremely awkward and quiet now and looked at the wall with two doors.

"Oh! Right! Your room is the one on the left. T'Challa had them put some clothing that should be your size in there. The bathroom is the door on the right and mine room is the one on that side of the room…" Steve's response was cut short as Bucky practically slammed the door to his room shut. Steve felt his frown deepen when he finally registered the first half of what Bucky had said. An apology for costing him his home. It took Steve only a few steps before he reached his friend's door and knocked on it and waited a moment for a response. When one wasn't forth coming he tried speaking through the door instead. "You didn't cost me a home, you know. Tony lost it when he saw the video and he didn't really think beyond that. His actions were a heat of the moment kind of thing. The fact that he got Thor to bring and Asgardian healer, THE Asgardian healer was his way of apologizing. Besides, I always thought we agreed that home is where you are happiest, not your current place."

A few minutes passed as Steve stood at the door hoping for a response from his friend. As he moved to turn away from the door, Bucky finally opened it, "You are such a sap, you know that?"

"You were the one who said that to me when we needed to move camps in the dead of winter in Europe, Buck," Steve responded with a small smile.

"Only because you looked so damned forlorn about having to relocate," Bucky shot back with ease.

"We were going from a relatively protected from the wind valley to virtually frozen mountain top. I was worried we would all freeze to death. You weren't any happier about it," Steve chuckled softly. "You going to come out of there? I am sure you are hungry and I actually know how to use the kitchen pretty well."

"I don't know, you sure you know how to use those newfangled contraptions? They look a little complex," Bucky was teasing now which eased Steve's mind quite a bit.

"Yes, I know how to use them. Actually, since I had some advanced warning that you would be waking up today I got things set up to make something special," Steve winked with the last bit before turning towards the kitchen area and pulling things out of the refrigerator.

Bucky softly closed his door and looked through the provided clothing before selecting some sweats and a t-shirt out of the bunch to wear. He struggled a little to get out of the current clothing he wore while asleep, missing an arm was truly inconvenient for him. The sweats and t-shirt were only marginally easier to get on than the other clothing was to take off but he managed to do so without too much fuss. Once he finished he exited his room to see Steve at the stove.

Steve had veggies in a pan on one side of the stove and what looked to be a grill on the other side of the stove had steaks cooking. The blonde glanced back at him when he closed the door and smiled softly, an unidentifiable look in his eyes, "Medium rare right?"

"God, you weren't kidding when you said something special. Granted most of my meals for the past 70 odd years have been MREs or what amounts to crap from fast food places so I suppose pretty much almost anything would be an upgrade from that. I don't know when the last time was that I had a real meal much less a steak," Bucky's words were accompanied with a big grin which resulted in Steve smiling back at him with equal pleasure despite the latest information provided by his friend. The medical staff and Eir had all said Bucky had been bordering on malnourished so Steve wasn't exactly surprised even if it didn't make him happy.

"Well, I suggest savoring this. I know I savored the first real food I had after coming out of the ice. Not eating for 70 years can apparently do that to a man," Steve stated as he pulled the steaks off the grill and then split the veggies in the pan between the two plates. Each of them got two steaks a piece and a large helping of veggies.

Bucky would have been happy with just this but then he watched as Steve opened the oven and pulled out some bread sticks that had been warming in it. The bread sticks were quickly tossed into a waiting basket and he grabbed both that and what appeared to be a bowl that Bucky had missed until now holding sliced fruit, "Can you grab the plates for me?" Steve asked as he went over to set the things in his hands on the nearby table.

"Sure. Man, I didn't think I took that long to get changed," Bucky remarked as he collected the plates and transferred them to the table as well. Steve meanwhile had gone to the refrigerator and pulled out a couple of locally made beers.

"You didn't. Like I said before, I knew you were going to wake up today. I did most of the prep for this this morning. It doesn't take that long to fry up some vegetables and sear a steak. The bread sticks were made by T'Challa's culinary staff and I just warmed those up. Not much to it really," Steve smiled once more as he sat down at the table, Bucky following suit.

"It used to take you two hours to make a fancy meal like this, even if you did buy the bread. How did you get so quick at it?" Bucky asked before freezing as he stared at the steaks in front of him. "Though admittedly you didn't really think it through completely."

"Huh?" Steve asked as he looked up from his plate as he had just been cutting up his steaks before realizing the problem. "Ah, Buck, I'm sorry. I really didn't think about it. Here, pass your plate over here. I will cut up your food for you."

Bucky handed over the plate and watched as Steve quickly cut the steaks into bite sized pieces, "Don't beat yourself up about it too much. It is still going to be the best meal I have had in literally decades. Besides, I had to feed you plenty of times. It's about time you pay me back for all that hard effort to keep you alive." Bucky teased, alluding to the time when Steve was a lot smaller and often got sick.

"Fair enough. I will try to keep in mind that you haven't been fully fixed up. They did say it would be only another week at most," Steve returned Bucky's plate and once more focused on his food.

Silence fell as the two ate. Bucky had to repeatedly remind himself mentally to eat as slowly as Steve because he really was extremely hungry and the food was extremely good. It did take them some time to work their way through all of what Steve had prepared due to the volume needed to actually sustain them. Just as Bucky was stealing the last bread stick from the basket a knock sounded on the door to their suite. Steve got up and answered it and a moment later let one of his friends in. Bucky's mind supplied the name Clint Barton after he thought about it for a moment.

"Hey, I just came to let you know, Tony contacted T'Challa. He said he would be arriving with a few people that we will be happy to see and his arrival would also bring peace offerings in the form of gifts. Said he would be here first thing in the morning. Thought you guys would want to know," Barton said once he was actually in the suite and could see both of them. "He also said to say that he promises that he comes in peace."

Bucky noted that this last bit had been directed mostly at him but Steve still nodded his understanding, "Ok, thanks for the heads up. I take it this means he will likely be bringing Nat here. It will be nice to see her."

"Probably, though the way he was talking made it sound like he was bringing more than just a single person. He requested permission to have a few Quinjets come in. T'Challa made it clear to Tony that if he was thinking to trick them into allowing an armed force into the country Tony would sorely regret it. Tony's response was that although he would be bringing a force that most wouldn't be armed because he wouldn't trust them with a cookie much less a weapon. I'm not sure how T'Challa felt about that statement but I am now seriously curious to know who he has coming with him," Clint said the bit about the cookie with a chuckle. "I also know that both Eir and the medical staff have requested they get access to your previous medical care records so I am guessing Tony is bringing that as well since I doubt he would have left that base in Siberia with anything the few remaining people from Hydra would like to get their hands on."

"Ok, Thanks again for letting us know. I take it we will be expected to join the welcoming committee?" Steve asked seriously.

"You are. T'Challa asks that Bucky wait in the conference room and we will have everyone meet up there for Tony's grand apology. I am going to record it so that I can use it for future reference anything Tony comes up with an equally stupid idea as trying to force us to dance for the puppet theatre. Personally I think Tony is being on the level though. I mean there is no reason for him to have gotten Thor to bring someone to help Sergeant Barnes regain his memory and remove the programing if he was just going to attack us now but T'Challa is being on the cautious side," Barton answered just as seriously. "I should let you guys sleep though, we are expecting Tony and company to arrive pretty early, or at least that is what he threatened."

"Ok. See you in the morning," Steve nodded as Barton left and he closed the door. When Steve turned back around it was to find Bucky stacking the plates and other things on the table as best he could with one hand.

Steve quickly moved to grab the stack and transferred it to the dish washer that was attached to the Breakfast bar where Bucky had missed it in his earlier examination of the kitchen. He realized at this point that he hadn't been nearly as observant as he normally would have and it was because he felt safe with Steve near him. He smiled at Steve once more before telling him that he was tired and was going to go sleep. Steve just nodded his head and told Bucky to let him know if he needed anything. After Steve finished the clean-up he went to his own room. He decided to leave his door open just in case Bucky needed him during the night and quickly changed into pajama bottoms and a t-shirt before climbing into his overly comfortable bed. It was as stiff as a mattress could be and that was the best he could ask for.