Steve rolled over again. He'd a few hours of sleep, but had woken and now couldn't return to his slumbers. His mind was racing: he was still undecided as to whether or not it was a good idea to leave Bucky on his own, even at night. It had been almost three days since the Winter Solider had turned up completely out of the blue at Stark Towers. Tony had set Jarvis to monitoring Bucky's every move of course, but it wasn't the same. Bucky needed to be constantly reassured that he was with friends, and that he wasn't a danger to himself or anyone else. Alright, Steve had to admit, Bucky was a danger to himself and others, but really, weren't they all? As much as Steve hated to admit it, he believed he had a much better chance taking Bucky on should his old friend happen to flip out compared to Thor or the Hulk.

"Captain Rogers?" The disembodied voice of Jarvis drifted quietly over the intercom.

"What is it, Jarvis?" Steve asked. Something was wrong, Steve knew that much. He'd told Jarvis to alert him if Bucky did anything - strange. So far everything had been normal enough. Bucky had spent most of the time just lying on his bed. He'd been co-operative enough letting Tony have a look at his metal arm, but hadn't let Stark get too close. Bucky had eaten what he'd been served, showered, shaved, worn the clothes that Pepper had bought for him. He'd said few more than a dozen words since Steve had brought him up the Tower, but, Steve thought, what was there to say?

"Sergeant Barnes is emptying the contents of his stomach quite violently into the lavatory, sir."

"Darn it." Steve said, jumping up. He moved swiftly out of his room, across the hallway and into Bucky's. Bucky's bedroom door was unlocked, and when Steve entered, he could hear the sounds of Bucky being sick in the ensuite. Steve sighed sadly. He didn't say anything, he just entered the bathroom and stood beside his friend who was kneeling on the tiles. Steve gently pulled Bucky's hair back from off his face and held it out of the way whilst Bucky retched and was sick again. After a couple more minutes, Bucky spat and sat back.

"I'm done." he croaked.

Steve let go of Bucky's hair, flushed the toilet and slid down the wall to sit across from his friend. Seeing Bucky like that, his eyes full of pain, his face sweaty and pale, Steve just wanted to hold him, but that was hardly the done thing. Steve pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "We should get you cleaned up," He said.

Bucky gave a nod, but neither of them moved.

"It's the food," Steve said. "It's so rich, especially when you're not used to it. It's certainly not over-boiled spuds and cabbage."

"Yeah," Bucky said without emotion. Both of them knew that the food may in part be the reason Bucky was sick, but it was unlikely the prime culprit.

"You look tired," Steve said, for lack of anything better to say. Bucky didn't just look tired; he looked exhausted.

Bucky shrugged. "I'm not going back to sleep tonight."

Steve sighed, knowing full well as to why Bucky couldn't sleep. He wanted so much to help Bucky, but what was he supposed to do when the terrors were replying themselves in his friend's mind? There was no one to punch or shoot and Bucky couldn't be protect by Steve's shield.

"Were you awake too?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah."

"What time is it?"

"Coming up ha'past four."

"Then why were you awake?" Bucky asked.

"Guess I couldn't sleep either."

"Bad dreams too?"

Steve took a deep breath and exhaled deeply. He hated to admit it, but it was true. Jarvis knew that he spent as many hours of the night lying awake in the darkness as he did actually sleeping, but as far as Steve was aware, Stark's AI was the only other one in on the secret. "Yeah," Steve confessed. "It gets better though," he lied.

"Not for me." Bucky said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Steve thought for a second that Bucky was going to say something else, but he remained silent.

"Come on," Steve said, standing up. "Let's get you cleaned up. Then we can go for a run."

Bucky shrugged, defeated, and made no effort to move.

"Come on," Steve said again, this time offering Bucky a hand. "Up you get." He smiled and took Bucky's right hand as his friend still made no effort to move of his own accord. This time, Bucky allowed Steve to pull him to his feet. Bucky lent against the wall as Steve ran the sink with warm water.

"I'm never going to understand." Bucky murmured.

"There's plenty we all don't understand." Steve said, once again unsure as to whether Bucky was join to elaborate or not, turning off the tap. He felt better just doing something, even if it was just running water. "Chin up, soldier. Scrub up," he smiled after Bucky gave no further response.

The corner of Bucky's mouth twitched slightly at Steve's mock-order. He took the few steps across to the sink and splashed his face with the water.

"I'll meet you at the elevator in five." Steve said. "I think we'll be needing long pants this morning. And a jumper. Morning's are starting to cool down again." He said before leaving Bucky along to freshen up. Steve walked slowly back to his own room. He pulled off the t-shirt he had been sleeping in, and rummaged around for sports t-shirt and hoodie. As he pulled on his socks, Steve could feel the need to run, and he was sure Bucky felt the same. Perhaps if they ran fast enough, they could leave all this mess behind.

In under five minutes, Steve was waiting at the elevator, and a few minutes later, just as Steve began to doubt, Bucky's door opened and his friend emerged.

"These pants are weird and why are my trainers bright blue?" Bucky grumbled, adjusting the pants as he walked. Pepper had fully kitted out Bucky's wardrobe - including Skins and a pair of fluorescent blue and orange Nikes.

Steve grinned. "Welcome to the 21st century, Buck."