Steve awoke early as he had since he was a child, stretching and smiling at the scene in his bed. He hadn't realized how much he hated sleeping alone until the last week or so and could've kicked himself for not giving in to what his heart wanted sooner.

Chris was curled on her side facing him, looking so peaceful, so beautiful in sleep. One ribbon of blonde hair draped across her cheek, a sharp contrast to the dark fans of her lashes. Her hand was on his bicep as if she was verifying in sleep that he was still there. The soft sighs of her breath fanned against his skin as she slept on.

Bucky lay behind her, wrapped around her. His flesh arm wrapped around her waist, his legs tucked up behind hers. Steve shook his head, smiling. Bucky had always been like sleeping with an octopus, even when they were kids. Steve remembered what it had been like to be so warm and safe, sleeping in Bucky's arms when he'd been small. If he missed anything about his original form, it had to have been that.

The other thing Steve noticed was that Bucky's nightmares were a lot less likely to happen when he had someone to snuggle up to. For months when they'd first gotten him back, he'd wakened Steve with his screams and cries, ripping his heart out each time and wishing he could make it stop for him. He should have remembered. Before they'd been sent on the last mission, he'd awoke to Bucky wrapped around him.

Steve was certainly not complaining.

Reaching under his bed, Steve grabbed his sketchpad and the pencil he'd left there a few nights before when he'd been unable to sleep and tried to sketch. Normally he'd sketch something from his memory, he just didn't have the nerve to ask someone to post for him these days.

Now, stretched out next to him was the man he'd loved for a century and the woman who'd captured their hearts in a way no one since Peggy had.

Trying to push worries about their future out of his head, he began his sketch of his beautiful lovers. As much as Bucky liked to sleep in, and as tired as all three of them were, he decided he'd have plenty of time to finish it.

Nearly two hours later, he had just finished the majority of it, Steve's phone let him know he had a text from Tony.

TS: Cap, come talk to me.

SR: About?

Steve responded to very few messages, calls, or people who just requested his time without saying why. It was just the way things were done.

Tony's one-word answer was one of the few things that would prompt him to move.

TS: Athena

SR: Be there in 15.

Ten minutes later, he was showered and heading out the door, looking back to his lovers and deciding they'd be okay until he got back. He didn't intend to be gone long. He'd lost far too much time with Bucky as it was, and they still had Chris to win over.

Steve found Tony in his office, scanning different virtual screens in the air in a way that never failed to make him feel a techno-dunce. Tony glanced up at him, waved the screens away, and smiled.

"Hey, Cap," Tony greeted. "Have a seat."

"What about Athena?" Steve wanted to get right to it.

Tony's expression was careful. Steve knew that look and it usually didn't signify anything good.

"Well, it seems our HYDRA friends already know we're harboring Athena," Tony said without preamble.

Steve didn't think it would take them long to figure it out.

"I met with her yesterday about her new job here and she seemed interested," Tony explained. "She can handle things that Pepper and I normally manage when I have to go out and save the world and Pepper goes out to do our PR. She's a sharp girl and it will keep her here and safe."

"Sounds good," Steve nodded his agreement.

"We'll need to come up with a plan in case they decide to come at us here in the compound," Tony told him. "They've oddly never thought to try it before, but…"

"But?" Steve knew something he wouldn't like was coming.

"Steve, I've done quite a bit of reading on Chris in the last couple of days." Tony folded his hands on the desk in front of him. "You knew Athena was the FBI's creation?"

"She mentioned that," Steve replied.

"Did she also mention that Athena was set up to look like an unrelated cyber terrorist?" Tony went on. "Not just any cyber terrorist but a Loki-level hacker who everyone whispered about. I can see where they found that immensely useful in the cases they worked, but they weren't doing Chris any favors. They were barely keeping her identity concealed. HYDRA is certainly the worst threat she has facing her, but it's far from the only threat. There are thousands of factions she's fucked over for her job at the bureau, Steve, and HYDRA will make sure they know who she is."

His heart sank for their girl. Her freedom was badly compromised.

"You get what I'm saying?" Tony promoted him.

Steve didn't want to, but yeah, he did.

"I just want her to be okay." Tony blew out an exhale. "Seems like…"

"Like working with us is the worst thing that could have happened to her?" Steve finished for him. "Yeah, I'm getting that."

"You think she's going to be okay?"

"I don't know her well enough to know that yet," Steve answered, grateful that Tony cared. "She wasn't exactly out in the world when we first met her. She told Bucky that weeks would go by without her leaving her apartment aside from getting things she needed. But there's a huge difference in not wanting to go out and knowing you can't."

"Exactly." Tony mind was going a hundred miles a minute. "Maybe we should hide her. I'm not worried about our ability to protect the compound but…"

"Tony, no," Steve told him, knowing that would mean sending her away from him and Bucky and she needed their protection.

"Why not? If they think she's here, it gives her a layer of protection."

"They're going to be watching closely for a while, Tony. We don't dare risk moving her now and honestly, even if enough time had passed that she wasn't fresh in their minds anymore, it still wouldn't be the safest option for her."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes, Tony, I'm sure." Steve wouldn't continue that line of argument. "Want to come up with that plan to protect the compound while we're here?"

Tony's expression was a blend of doubt and worry, but he knew there wouldn't be any arguing with Steve about the issue. Not right now.

"Yep," Tony told him, pulling a StarkPad from his desk. "Let's do it."

Chris tried to stretch, her mind clouded with sleep and her body so warm. The hard body behind hers restricted her movement. Sharing a bed with someone wasn't something she'd ever gotten used to.

Oh, but she could.

She thought it might be Bucky behind her, he'd spooned her like that the night after the mission where they cuffed Steve to the bed and…

Yeah, a lot happened that night and she'd loved every minute of it. While the thought of being in a relationship with not one but two beautiful men, not to mention who they were, was a little overwhelming and intimidating when she stopped to think about it, there were also some perks.

If she could keep herself out of her own head. Feel, not think. But trying to ignore feeling had become second nature to her.

She was an empath. The irony…

Her phone was tucked up under her pillow, Chris slowly pulled it out, smiling at the message Steve had left.

SR: Beautiful, gone to meet briefly with Tony. Everything's fine. Stay in bed with Bucky until I get back?

Sliding the phone back under her pillow, Chris intended to do just that. But she was very aware that Bucky was awake behind her. His erection was a hard, hot press against her ass and his arm around her tightened.

When she reached out to gather feelings, she felt him out.

Happiness. Contentment. Concern. Desire.

Steve wouldn't have even thought about letting want into the equation until he'd interrogated her to make sure she was okay. Not that she had any problem with that. Steve made her feel cared about, safe.

The plush lips of the man behind her, teasing the tender skin where her neck joined the line of her shoulder, made her shudder and grind her ass back against him. He was nothing but honest about his desire, what he wanted. He was even letting go of that amazing emotional control he often used. At least around her.

Bucky hummed behind her, his flesh hand sliding easily under Steve's shirt to tease the underside of her breast with just his fingertips.

"How are you?" his voice was rough from sleep. More kisses along her neck, making her tremble. "Did you sleep well?"

Chris sighed, a happy sound. "I slept so well I forgot where I was."

His chuckle was a deep, warm sound. His hand slid up and over her breast and she pushed herself into his touch.

"Where's Steve?"

"The text said it was a quick meeting with Tony and asking me to stay in bed with you until he got back," she told him, moaning as one of those beautiful thighs pushed its way between hers. She was grinding herself against him before she even realized it.

"I think that's an excellent idea, doll baby." His tongue traced the shell of her ear before he playfully nipped at the lobe with his teeth. "Am I reading this right? Did you want to…"

Chris didn't even pause in rubbing herself against him. "You're reading this right," she managed.

"What's off limits for you right now?" he asked gently, his hand sliding down from her chest and into her panties, making her moan as he pressed his fingers gently between the wet flesh he found there and his thigh.

"I don't know…" Chris knew she was scarlet by now. "I'm not sure I'm ready for you to tie me up or –"

"No, no, baby," Bucky cut her off. "After last night, I didn't know if you were up for sex at all and if so with me and Steve or..."

Covering her face with her hands, she groaned in embarrassment.

"Hey," Bucky propped himself up behind her. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of this is new to you, isn't it?"

Without removing her hands, she nodded.

"So, let's try that question again. What would make you feel good right now, beautiful? Not playing. Just sex, if you want, and with whomever you want."

Chris's heart clenched at his caring tone.

"Just sex?" Chris pulled her hands away. "That sounds good."

He traced a finger around her clit in slow, maddening circles, taking the friction of his thigh away.

"Use your words, doll," he said gently. "Who do you want?"

"Can I have you both?"

"You sure you're up for that?" Bucky whispered by her ear.

"Yes." It came out more like a hiss as he gently slid one finger inside her, searching. "I need to get out of my head, Bucky. Does that make sense? I spent most of the week just trapped in my mind with all the things that have gone wrong and…"

"Shhh." He nuzzled into her hair, the back of her neck. Another finger slid into her and he was getting dangerously close to the spot inside her that would take her apart. "I know too damn well what that's like. It's okay, Chris. We're going to take care of you. We're going to make you feel so good."

Chris cried out when the third finger slid in. The next instant he was tapping her g-spot and she was arching wildly against him. Bucky held onto her easily enough, the second gentle rub to that spot making the world spin away from her for several moments.

"Chris?"

Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes to find Bucky on top of her, his weight mostly shifted to his vibranium arm, but enough on her that she felt secured. Bucky payed such close attention to every sound she made, every clue her body gave him. He'd probably figured out before she had that she kind of liked being held down.

His beautiful eyes searched her face. He was trying to maintain his sinful smirk but there was concern edging his face.

"Are you okay, doll baby?" he whispered.

Chris couldn't help but smile, letting her eyes slide closed again. Bucky ground down into her belly to get her attention back on her, making her gasp for air.

"That take the edge off?"

Chris laughed at that. "That's putting it mildly. I'm starting to wonder how I'm going to survive this relationship."

His lips claimed hers for a scorching kiss, coaxing hers open for a deep taste. "Stevie and I will have you completely ruined for all other men in no time," he promised.

"With no offense at all to Steve," she whispered, opening her eyes again, "you accomplished that all by yourself that first week."

The intensity of his gaze had her heart doing flips in her chest. She smoothed a hand over his cheek, through his beautiful hair because she could. It was moments like this, when the shadows that lingered normally in his eyes were almost gone, that she wanted to make him happy. To do anything to keep him happy. He deserved no less for so many years in so much darkness.

As much as she enjoyed their current position, she wanted to return the favor. "Trade places?"

Using a slick, martial arts type move, Bucky flipped them, laughing at her surprise at the quick movement that ended with him on his back and her straddling those slim hips. Chris had to laugh with him, she had no chance of ever being able to physically keep up with them, so why try?

Bucky thrust his hips up, letting her feel how much he wanted her.

"What's this?" she heard Steve's smile in his voice as he came into the bedroom. "Have I missed anything?"

"Not much," Bucky peered around Chris to see Steve, grinning. "I made our girl come once, just so she'd make until you got back."

The bed dipped next to them, as Steve took a seat on the edge, his hand smoothing over Chris's back.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asked gently.

"Pretty good right at this moment," Chris said with a smile.

"Want to talk about anything?" Steve made her meet his gaze, looking her in the eye.

"Not right now," Chris said in a whisper. "I've been stuck in my head. I just want to feel…"

Steve pressed a hand gently to the side of her face, smiling. "Whatever you want, sweetheart. I just want you to feel better about things. To be happy with us."

"Can I ask you both something?" Chris looked from one set of blue eyes to the other. "And you'll tell me the truth?"

"Anything," Bucky told her.

"You were all together before," Chris said carefully, "with Peggy."

Bucky brows shot up, his expression seemed to say to Steve 'so you told her?'

"Yes," Steve said patiently.

"If Bucky hadn't fallen, if you hadn't gone into the ice," Chris continued on. "Do you think you would have stayed together?"

"Yes," Steve said without hesitation.

"How?" Chris wanted to know.

"Things were different back then," Steve explained. "People thought differently than they do now. I'd always kind of hoped that the three of us would make it out of the war, go back home. I'd marry Peggy, Bucky would live with us. We'd be happy. We'd handle any explanations. We could have made it work."

The emotion brewing in Bucky's eyes as his gaze met Steve's had her heart squeezing in her chest.

"You really thought that far ahead?" Bucky asked, his love for other man obvious.

"Yes, I did," Steve assured him. "I wouldn't have given you up. I wouldn't have given either of you up. That's my being a selfish bastard but there it is."

"I'm not Peggy," Chris pointed out. "I've read all about her. She was someone I admired. She was strong, a leader. I'm… not."

Bucky propped himself up on his metal arm to be closer to her.

"No, you're you and you're special in your own right," Bucky said, smoothing a hand through her hair. "Neither Steve nor I were looking to replace Peggy. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't want Stevie back because I did. But I wanted you from the minute you came running with us, flirting with us all the way up the track."

Steve chuckled behind her, a warm rich sound.

"I wasn't thinking, hey, they three of us should be a thing at that point," Bucky said with a shrug.

"I did," Steve admitted, his face coloring at the admission.

Chris laughed.

"I was jealous that night when he broke off from me to go to you in D.C.," Steve admitted. "I didn't like sharing him with one night stands necessarily, but I knew those wouldn't last so I dealt with it. He was so serious about you. And I wanted you too. So much, Chris."

"But you want to know if we really think this can work, don't you doll baby?" Bucky cut to the chase.

Chris's face warmed and she nodded. "I'm just. I'm scared? I feel like I was just… ripped out of my life by the roots, you know? I'm not saying I don't have an incredibly nice job here that Tony's given me, because I'm not going to lie, I like my new job and it's not a pity job."

Bucky winked at her.

"But guys, I suck at relationships," Chris tried to explain, it wasn't helping that their emotions were surrounding her just as they were. Love. Admiration. Desire. Want. "If I can't have a solid relationship with one man, how…"

"How many failed relationships are we talking about, doll?" Bucky's tone was teasing.

Chris rolled her eyes, felt her face heat up more. "Technically, two. One was a friends-with-benefits kind of thing."

"Yeah, well, that's not going to work here, sweetheart," Bucky told her, pressing up to kiss her mouth lightly. "I can't just be your friend. I'm crazy about you."

Steve pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "I'm in love with you both, so that won't work for me either."

Chris stared at him, wide eyed, extending herself to feel him out. He did love her.

"You love me?" Chris whispered breathlessly.

"So do I, doll," Bucky gently directed her gaze back to himself and his feelings were just as strong. "Give us a chance. I think we could be so happy, the three of us."

Tears stung the backs of her eyes, but she let Bucky pull her down for a kiss, tasting her mouth in a leisurely manner while Steve's hand roamed over her freely.

"What would you like to do, sweetheart?" Steve whispered in her ear. "Anything at all. It doesn't have to be sex."

Chris laughed against Bucky's lips. "I think it's going to have to be sex, Steve. Bucky got me all worked up before you got back and you can't believe what I'd been sitting on this entire time."

"Is that right?" Steve asked in something like his Captain voice. Leaning back, she allowed Steve's to roam over Bucky's cock, feeling his hips buck up into his lover's touch.

"Wow, you're right," Steve admitted. "What do you think we should do about that, Chris?"

"Why do you both keep asking me what I want?" She looked from one to the other.

"Because we want you to be happy," Steve told her, moving his large hand to push down into her panties. "He did get you worked up, didn't he?"

Chris was soaked, humming in delight as his large fingers skimmed her folds gently.

"What do you want, baby?" Bucky's hand skimmed up under Steve's shirt, gently taking her breasts in hands, keeping his touch light.

"Anything?" Chris want to confirm.

The two men smiled at each other before turning their attention back to her. "Yeah, anything you want," Steve told her.

"Can we all make love… at the same time?" Chris asked shyly.

Steve's expression shifted, concern bleeding out onto his other emotions.

"How did you want us, doll?" Bucky asked patiently.

She knew what she wanted but she just knew Steve wouldn't agree to it – yet. But she thought of an alternative that was almost as good.

"Can you be in the middle?" she asked Bucky.

Bucky's smile was beautiful. "I have you, Stevie has me?"

Chris didn't want to know what shade of red she was turning. She was just about ready to suggest something less… everything… when Bucky, wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

"I love it," he whispered in his ear. "How lucky can a man be, I wonder?"

Steve's hesitation was gone. His excitement grew by leaps and bounds as he rose from the bed, shedding his clothes while Chris watched eagerly.

Bucky rolled her onto her back, looming above her and taking her breath away with his beauty. He straddled her, sitting back on his heels and grabbing the hem of Steve's shirt to pull it over her head. Moving back and taking the covers with him, he grabbed her panties and gently pulled them down her legs while Steve climbed up on the bed with them, leaning down to claim her mouth with heat and desire.

While Steve kissed her breathless, one of his hands sliding down to tease at her breast, she felt Bucky shifting around her legs, pulling her thighs up onto his shoulders. Chris gasped into Steve's mouth as she felt Bucky's mouth pressing a chain of heated kisses up the inside of one thigh.

"Bucky," she cried out when his mouth closed over her mound. He hummed, and she felt it throughout her lower body, trying to squeeze her legs closed and being completely unable to.

Steve pulled back to tease her ear, her neck and shoulder with his tongue.

"What's he doing to you, doll?" Steve grinned down at her, his eyes so blue. "Is he getting you ready for us?"

"Yes." She pulled Steve's mouth back up to hers. Steve moaned into her mouth, his hand skimming all over her torso from one breast to the other as their tongues danced together.

Bucky's mouth was wickedly buried in her folds, his tongue drawing patterns across her clit and skimming down to tease her entrance and back up again, over and over until she thought she'd lose her mind. When he lips began to pump up trying to reach Bucky's face, Steve eased back to watch for a moment, before placing a big hand on her abdomen to keep her still.

"Steve," it sounded like she was begging him for something, but she couldn't have said exactly what. Now she could see Bucky eating her out like a man possessed and Steve pulled a deep moan from her when he leaned down to take one of her nipples into her mouth. His lips and tongue teased her so gently. Between both their efforts, she was writhing beneath them, one hand carded into Steve's hair while the other was clutching at the sheets. Bucky grabbed that hand and moved it into his hair.

They worked together, pushing her closer and closer to the edge while they held her there. Bucky had pressed his fingers back into her, moving closer to her g-spot while his mouth devastated her. Just when she thought she'd scream in frustration, Bucky worked that spot, bringing her release crashing over her while the kept at her. The whirl spun away while she struggled to breathe, and they didn't stop taking her apart.

When the world came back into focus, they were kissing, slowly with a lot of tongue. Steve moaned into Bucky's mouth, his hand around his brunet lover's cock, working him firmly.

"She tastes so good," Steve whispered against Bucky's mouth.

"She's back," Bucky told him, winking at her.

"Time to get you ready, old man," Steve said slapping Bucky's ass before hopping off the bed.

While he was digging through the drawer at his bedside table, Bucky crawled up over her, kissing her breathless as he had Steve and letting her taste herself in his mouth. His flesh hand slid between her legs as he drugged her with kisses all over her face, her neck, her breasts. She didn't immediately notice Steve was behind Bucky, positioning him as he wanted.

"Oh, baby, right there," Bucky's eyes slid closed at something Steve was doing. Bucky's cock was rock hard, Chris reached down to wrap her hand around him, work him gently.

Bucky's grin was wicked. "Teaming up on me?"

"That's the idea," Chris told him, smiling.

Bucky hummed as Chris stroked him and Steve worked to stretch him open.

"Come on, pal," Bucky growled after a few moments. "I'm getting antsy here."

"You're being so good for us," Steve told him, winking at Chris. "You're going to feel so good in just a couple more minutes. Now, don't keep our girl waiting."

Bucky looked triumphant as he reached up, grabbing two of the pillows and stuffing them beneath her hips to lift her up. When he was satisfied with that, he hooked his arms around her knees, pulling her down to him and then lining himself up with her entrance.

"You feel amazing, doll baby," Bucky told her as he slowly began to sink into her.

"Go slow, Buck," Steve whispered. "She's small."

Bucky nodded as her channel slowly gave way to let him in. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to just how full she felt with either of them inside her. She was well and truly ruined for any average man now. Once Bucky bottomed out, he held still for just a moment, looking blissed out.

"Are we good?" Steve asked him.

"Fuck, yeah," Bucky whispered before his gaze locked with hers. "You ready, doll?"

Chris was excited, nodded.

Steve began to work himself inside of Bucky, the bliss he felt at doing so written on his face, reaching her in waves of strong, pure emotion. Watching them joining again almost made her feel on the outside looking in, like an outsider.

Almost as if he heard her thought, Bucky lowered himself onto his elbows and began to kiss her, lusty kisses that had her temperature rising as she waited for them to move. Chris was so ready, clamping herself around him as if to remind him of the fact.

"Mmmm, do that again, doll," he said against her lips.

Chris knew when Steve reached the end of Bucky. His movements halted, and he looked so blissed out and happy, his eyes closed as he held tight to Bucky's hips.

"Are we going to do this?" Bucky asked in a breathy manner. "She's killing me here. So tight."

When Steve did thrust, oh, she felt it. He caused Bucky to move firmly inside her.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

Slowly Steve began an easy rhythm, pushing into Bucky and pushing Bucky into her. The force of every few thrusts punched the air from her lungs as she held onto their dark-haired lover in the middle.

Bucky appeared to be on sensory overload, buried inside her but with Steve buried in him. The sounds he made, the whimpers and moans, made her heart soar. The emotion pouring out of him wrapped around her until she almost felt as if she were feeding on it. Bliss. Happiness. Love. Lust. Want.

Hope.

When Steve reach around Bucky to lightly tease her clit with his fingertips, she tensed, her body spiraling quickly towards release. It was almost too much, and her hands scrambled to stop him only to have her wrists collared by Bucky who pinned them down by her sides.

"Let is happen, Chris," Steve whispered, his gaze burning into her. "Let is go. I want you to come for us. Come all around his cock, baby."

Hearing that from Steve's mouth threw Chris over the edge, screaming as her body clenched around Bucky over and over. She could feel him tensing over her, his thrusts coming hard.

"Don't you dare come yet," Steve's voice sounded harsh. "You hear me?"

Bucky whimpered, nodded. He was fighting to hold on.

Steve increased the speed and power of his thrusts, watching her carefully for any signs that it was uncomfortable. Honestly, the renewed stimulation just served to push her back up there near the edge of ecstasy and Chris was powerless to stop it, just hanging on as Bucky was.

"Do you like this, Chris?" Steve's voice was rough. "Does this feel good?"

"Yes," Chris cried out as he sped up even more.

"I need you to come on him one more time." It sounded almost like an order. "Can you do that for me, doll?"

"I –"

Chris was trying to say she'd try when Steve thrust hard into Bucky, pushing him right against her spot and Chris screamed, coming again. Her orgasm had Bucky whimpering this time.

"Steve, please… I need…."

"Come, Buck," Stever ordered and Bucky tensed above her, his grip on her wrists just shy of painful as he thrust into her with everything he had, jerking and crying out as he unloaded inside her.

Steve shoved Bucky over, landing with an oomph at her side as Steve crawled up her body. His cock was huge and painfully hard. Steve pulled off the condom he'd been wearing, tossing it off the side of the bed as he lined himself up with her entrance.

Having one right after the other, Chris could definitely say that Steve was slightly bigger, his thrusts were powerful as he moved inside her. Steve surrounded her, his warmth, his smell, held up on his elbows as he worked himself into her until all she could do was just hold on.

Chris couldn't have said how she was on the verge of coming yet again. All she knew was that Steve was tensing, he was so close. When Bucky struck his ass with a loud smack, Steve jumped a little in surprise but allowed Bucky to push him back until was upright, Chris's legs hooked over his arms as fucked her with purpose.

Bucky looked tired but the mischief in his eyes let her know he was done yet. First he placed his flesh hand right over her sternum, holding her down. He dove for the place where their bodies met with his mouth, his tongue curling around her clit as Steve continued to fill her over and over.

Chris screamed when the last orgasm hit her like a freight train. Steve yelled out too, his final thrusts almost painful as he emptied inside her and Bucky worked them both with his lips and tongue until both of them were lost to their release.

Chris had to have blacked out. It all went black after that. In the distance, she heard the wet sound of kissing, she thought. Then she felt a warm press between her thighs, whimpering at the sting of tender flesh there.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Steve whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead while another warm body pulled her against him.

"I think we broke her, Stevie," Bucky sounded amused.

"Maybe."

More warmth as Steve settled in on the other side of her, so warm. Chris curled towards that warmth and Bucky hummed happily as he vined around her from the back.

"Chris?" Steve sounded a little worried. "Sweetheart?"

"Hmmmm," was all she could manage.

"Are you okay?"

Chris thought she nodded. Snuggling into the warmth, she heard the television being turned on.

"I'll make us some breakfast in a few minutes," Bucky's voice sounded sated, happy.

"Take your time," Steve whispered. "Rest."

Bucky's breath evened out into the cadence of sleep. Above them, Steve's emotions were falling like happy rain.

"I love you both so much," he whispered, thinking neither of them was awake to hear.

It was the last thing Chris heard before she was contentedly lost to sleep too.