"Where's Bucky?" Mac asked as Jane plopped onto the couch beside him.

"Taking some alone time somewhere. I haven't seen him for a while, he's probably in his room by now." She answered with a tired sigh, lifting her hands to where the familiar headache had decided to return. She reminded herself to take some painkillers when she got back to her room.

Mac's cool beer rested calmly on his knee. "Must be nice, you guys seem to always be together. It must get exhausting."

Jane shrugged, "I guess. I think it was more of a matter of him getting tired of sitting around while Skye and I worked on the Eclipse files. I don't blame him though."

"That's right, she mentioned something about that. How's it going, you guys working together now?" He asked, taking a drink.

"It's alright, I suppose. I mean, she definitely knows her stuff; she created a program to scan all the images in the database for the stamp. I didn't even know that was possible, my solution was to just sift through them all one by one." Jane said with a chuckle.

Mac could tell there was something more she wasn't saying and asked, trailing off "But…"

"But, I don't think she likes me all that much." Jane finished. "I mean, we've been working on this for what, three, four days now? And the most conversation outside of the project is about what kind of pizza we were going to order for dinner." Jane pulled one foot up on the couch, resting her elbow on her knee. "It's not that she's mean or anything, it just feels like she doesn't want me around."

"I wouldn't take it personally." Mac answered, shaking his head. "Skye's been through a lot lately. She sees S.H.I.E.L.D. as her home, her family, and because of the things that happened it's probably just hard adjusting to the fact that more people keep being added."

Jane turned towards Mac. "What do you mean? HYDRA overtaking S.H.I.E.L.D.?" She asked.

"Well partially." He replied. "But it was more personal for her than that. It was before Coulson brought me on, but one of their team members had turned out to be HYDRA and betrayed them all, Skye most of all."

Jane raised her eyebrows in surprise. She'd had no idea that was the case, but she could understand what Skye must've felt, finding out that someone close to her had been lying all along. "Let me guess, they were more than just friends, too." Jane said somberly.

"More or less." Mac answered. "But I don't recommend bringing it up, Ward's a touchy subject for most people around here."

Jane nodded in agreement. The last few minutes the two of them had been watching as Fitz was attempting to make himself a cup of tea. His progress was slow, however, as he kept getting distracted by the argument he was having with the individual that they couldn't see, but apparently he could.

"Can I ask you something?" Mac asked quietly.

"Yeah, what is it?" She replied.

"It's about Fitz." Mac said hesitantly. "Do you think you can help him? I mean I know it's not what you're here for, but you're used to dealing with stuff like this, surely there's something you can do."

Jane just looked at Mac and let out a small laugh. "Are you kidding me? You're the best shot he's got. Maybe you don't see it, but what you do for him is more help than what a lot professionals I've known can do for people."

"But all I did was be his friend?" Mac said unconvinced.

"And that's all he needs. He needs someone who's not afraid to take the time to work through things with him, someone who doesn't make him feel like a burden, or will label him as crazy. I couldn't do anything for him that you couldn't do better, you should give yourself more credit."

Mac shrugged and took a drink, contemplating her words. "It just feels like since Simmons left he's gotten worse. Sometimes I think he's getting over it, but the next day its back to square one and he's discussing theoretical physics with her again." He said, referencing Fitz who seemed to be in a heated debate about which kind of tea bag he should use.

"Where did she go anyways?" Jane asked. "No one ever really told me."

Mac took a deep breath before answering quietly, "I'm not really sure I'm supposed to know this, so don't go talking about it, but after they were rescued from the ocean, Simmons took an undercover assignment at HYDRA."

"What!" Jane exclaimed, then quickly quieted herself, remembering Mac's warning. In a hushed tone she continued, "Man, what is even the point of being briefed before joining a team if they don't even tell you half of the important things."

Jane wanted to ask him more questions, but Fitz was now heading towards them, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Mac offered to put in a movie and the other two nodded.

Jane let out a yawn as the end credits rolled. She looked over to see Fitz asleep in his chair, his head bent to one side. Mac slowly pulled himself up off the couch with a tired groan and walked over to the TV to remove the disc. Jane stretched a moment, then pulled herself to her feet. "You want me to wake him up?" She asked, motioning to Fitz.

"No, it's alright I'll take care of him." Mac said tiredly. "You should get some rest."

Jane nodded sheepishly and started down to hall towards her room. She didn't bother turning on the light when she got there, not wanting to blind herself with its harsh brightness. Quickly she changed into her shorts and tank top and put her hair up before crawling into the soft covers of her bed. For once she was actually tired enough that sleep didn't seem impossible like usual, and she was grateful.

She was on the edge of consciousness, just about to slip into sleep when a loud thud startled her awake. She laid still a moment, unsure if the noise was in reality, or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She listened in silence for a moment, and was about ready to conclude that it was just in her head when a crash that sounded like shattering glass echoed from the wall just next to her head.

Jane jumped at the sound, her heart nearly skipping a beat. The sound had come from Bucky's room that was just next to hers, and instantly the worst began running through her head. Fighting to wake up she crawled out from under the sheets and headed for the door. Once outside she could hear the noises continuing and she hurriedly opened Bucky's door, forcing her hands to cooperate.

Instinctively she flipped on the light switch but soon wished she hadn't. She quickly clamped her eyes shut at the brightness and slowly tried to blink and get her eyes adjusted. Across the room, Bucky was facing away from her, his metal arm leaning against the wall.

Between them she could see what looked like the remnants of a vase shattered across the floor. It was the one she had forced him to put in his room even despite his protests that he didn't care for decorations in his room. "Bucky?" She called out tentatively.

He turned slightly at her voice, but didn't turn around fully. "You shouldn't be in here Jay." He said gruffly and she could tell by the way he sounded that he was shook up.

Rather than heeding his advice she hopped over the glass shards, trying to avoid them with her bare feet and laid her hand gently on his metal arm. He lifted his head to look at her and she could see his eyes were red. Despite his attempts to hide it with anger, she could see the fear beneath his eyes.

"The nightmares started didn't they?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. "I'm only surprised it took them this long to show up."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" He snapped back.

Jane was taken aback by his sharp tone, but still chided herself internally for saying it. She hadn't really meant to say it out loud, but with the sleepiness in her mind she had found herself slipping up and saying what was on her mind without thinking. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to come out like that."

"No, I'm sorry." Bucky said after a moment. "You're just trying to help, I get that." Letting out a shaky breath he slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

By now several members after being awakened by the noise were coming to see what all the fuss was about. May rubbed her eyes as she peered into the room, and Skye and Trip soon appeared behind her, both groggy and squinting in the light.

Jane waved them off, letting them know it was under control and May responded with a nod before ushering the others back to their rooms.

"Sorry about the vase." Bucky said as Jane knelt down to his level. "It just kind of caught me off guard, and that was the closest thing for me to grab."

"Honestly, its fine. It was super cheap anyway. Besides, you were always telling me how ugly that thing was anyway!" She said, trying to lift his spirits.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but they soon lowered again. Running his hand through his hair he said, "It just made me so angry. I don't know why it made me so angry."

Jane knew he was referring to whatever flashback he saw. Rather than asking him what he saw she simply answered. "It's not that surprising, you have more than enough reasons to be angry."

"Why? I was a monster. All those people I killed, I deserve to be going through hell right now, it's only fair." He replied, truly believing his statement.

"Bucky," She said earnestly, waiting until he looked up to meet her eyes. "Don't ever say that. You don't deserve any of this, you're a good man!"

Bucky just shook his head. "I'm really not. If you knew what I've done you'd know just how wrong you are about that."

Jane however, was not about to give up that easily. "I don't care what you've done, and even if I did know all the things you did, my opinion wouldn't change. You know why? Because it wasn't you doing them, it was HYDRA. You are never going to get past this until you realize that you are not the monster in this, you were the victim! You can't keep blaming yourself for all these things that were out of your control."

"You were angry because at the heart of everything, you've got it right." She continued. "HYDRA used you, that isn't your fault. You're angry because you were made to do things you never wanted to do, and it's good that you're angry, you have every right to be! But please never forget that even if your hands did the act, that doesn't mean you are the one responsible. That blood is not on your hands Bucky, it's on theirs."

He thought about her words but didn't respond. "Do you believe what I'm saying?" She asked after a minute of silence.

Bucky forced himself to look up to meet her gaze and could see the sincerity in them. He couldn't bear to keep her eye contact and looked away. "Not really. But I believe that you do, and I'm sure you're going to convince me of it one day."

Jane felt a seed of disappointment starting to grow, but she reminded herself that recovery was a long process, and any progress was still progress. "Well there's no use discussing it now, in the middle of the night." She finally said, standing back up and offering him her hand. "You stay here, I'll go find a broom and clean this up."

Bucky accepted her hand, noticing a patch of red on her foot in the process. "Jay, you're bleeding." He said, concerned.

Jane glanced down to see what he was referring to and realized in her haste to get to Bucky she had failed to avoid all the pieces of glass and now there was a small gash on her left foot. "I suppose I am." She said nonchalantly. "I didn't even feel it, I don't think it's that bad." When his face remained wrinkled in concern, she added mockingly, "I'll find a Band-Aid while I'm getting the broom if it will satisfy you."

Bucky finally relaxed and let her go, then took a seat on the edge of his bed. Jane returned a few minutes later, broom in hand, to find him staring blankly at a spot in the floor, seemingly miles away. He only finally looked up when he heard Jane sweeping up the broken glass. Forcing himself to snap out of it he walked over and grabbed the broom in her hand. "Let me do it." He said simply.

"It's fine, I can handle it." She replied, not letting go of her grip on the broom. "You should get back to bed I'll take care of this."

"Jay," He said sternly, not releasing his grip either. "I'm not getting back in that bed anytime soon considering what happened last time I was in it. Please let me feel like I've done something useful tonight."

Jane didn't want to give in, but when she realized he was entirely serious she finally gave in and let him have the broom. "I'll be back in a second." She said, handing him the dustpan before walking out the door.

Bucky went to work cleaning up the mess and in a few moments Jane was back, her phone and the blanket from her bed in hand. Carefully sidestepping Bucky and the sharp pieces on the floor she laid the blanket out on the floor, and then did the same with the ones from Bucky's bed. She could see Bucky's questioning glances and stated, "Didn't figure you'd want to be alone tonight. And if you don't want to sleep in your bed, then we'll just have to make a fort."

Bucky just shook his head with a faint smile. He was starting to get used to her odd habits, and he laughed realizing this didn't even surprise him anymore. It didn't take him long to finish and while he dumped the contents of the dustpan into the trash, Jane was flipping through her playlists trying to decide which one to pick.

Bucky flicked off the light and Jane's face remained illuminated by the glow of her phone screen. He crossed the room and nimbly lowered himself to the floor, laying down next to where Jane was sitting cross-legged on the blanket, lose strands of hair falling over her face. "Chillstep or classical?" She asked, unable to decide on a playlist.

"Hmm, classical." Bucky replied, not wanting to admit he had no clue what 'chillstep' was.

Jane selected the classical playlist and shut off the screen, filling the room with darkness. With a sleepy yawn she laid down on the blankets. She felt a little bit awkward, seeing as she didn't normally do this kind of thing for most of her patients. But then again Bucky wasn't just a normal patient. She wasn't trying to give him the wrong idea, but she knew that what someone in his position needed right now was to feel secure and reassured. She couldn't just go back to bed in her room knowing he was just next door, terrified to be alone with his thoughts.

Unsure of what she should do she simply laid with her hands across her stomach, a few inches away from Bucky. The last thing she wanted to do was make him uncomfortable or anxious, but she had no way of knowing how to go about doing so.

Figuring she couldn't do much harm the way she was, she focused herself on trying to fall asleep. She'd already missed any chance of a decent bedtime, but she hoped to make the most of the hours she had left. Somewhere in the area between consciousness and sleep, of which she couldn't tell, Jane felt Bucky put his arm around her, pulling her head so that it rested on his chest, and she let the melodic sounds of the music lull her to sleep.