Bucky shrugged.

"May as well," he said. It couldn't hurt, at least, and he knew he'd be able to taste most poisons before they had a chance to do anything to him. Not that he thought Liz would poison him; he was just feeling that paranoid at the moment.

Hillary blinked.

"I did not even think about that," she admitted. She bit her lip slightly.

Liz nodded and just settled in, watching him. She was definitely looking a little the worse for not having slept much.

"It's fine, I'm used to it," Steve said, reaching across the table to put his hand over hers. "Don't worry about it."

Bucky got a mug of the tea and sat down on the couch with her.

"You alright?" he asked her quietly. "The truth."

"Are you sure?" Hillary asked. "I don't want to have ruined this before we even get to start..."

"Getting there." Liz shrugged a bit. "I've been better, but I've been worse too, and I'm not trying to kill anyone so I'm counting that as a plus."

"I'm sure. It's fine. Mostly people are good and don't try anything." Steve shrugged. "Really, it's fine."

"I ended up taking a lot of it out on Steve earlier," Bucky admitted. "He can take any hits I dish out, it helps."

"As long as you're sure..." Hillary said, still a bit anxious over it.

"I bet." Liz shook her head a bit. "I couldn't ask that of Hillary, even if she could spar with me."

"I'm sure. Now, you're going to have to explain this to me, because this is all gibberish." He tapped the tea menu.

"If she's anything like Steve, I'd bet she'd offer if she could," Bucky replied. He snorted a bit. "It would never occur to Stevie not to offer. At least now he's scrapping with me instead of being bailed out of scraps by me."

Hillary brightened at that and grinned, looking at the menu with him.

"What kind of flavors do you like in your drinks?" she asked him.

Liz snorted quietly. "Yeah, that's a good change," she agreed mildly.

"Um." Steve floundered for a minute. "Chocolate? Coffee?"

"No kidding," Bucky said. He lapsed into silence for a few moments. "I remember them taking my arm and giving me this," he said quietly, flexing his metal fingers. "The first few rounds of conditioning. Going in and out of cryo. Coming out was worse, it was a slow thaw. Going in was quick, at least. Guess what I'm trying to say is I know exactly why you have nightmares like that, because I have them too. I know how it feels."

Hillary grinned a bit.

"Should I just pick the first pot of tea?" she asked. "I promise it won't be fancy or anything. My tastes run towards floral teas or pure teas. I stay away from the fruity stuff."

"Being remade into something you don't necessarily like." Liz smiled humorlessly, her hands tightening on her mug. "Yeah. Figured you'd get it." She was quiet for a moment. "Figured you'd get why I'm confused you're still not running."

"Go for it," Steve told her with a bit of a grin. "We'll see how it goes, anyway."

"I beat up punching bags," Bucky admitted. "A lot of them."

"Alright," Hillary said. She smiled at the waiter when he arrived. "A pot of Four Seasons and a pot of Jasmine pearls?"

"I don't have any or I would." Liz smiled a bit. "I make do though."

"Of course," the waiter said after a moment. "Those will be right up."

"Remind me and I'll take you so you can beat up some of ours," Bucky said. "Custom done so they're tough enough."

"Thanks," Hillary said. She grinned a bit at Steve and settled into her seat.

"Fun." Liz settled a little more comfortably. "So how much did you actually see?" She couldn't quite look at him, because she remembered that this set of nightmares had been rather explicit.

"So what did you just order?" Steve looked more amused than anything, though, so clearly he didn't mind whatever she'd just ordered.

Bucky was quiet for a moment.

"I saw enough," he said. He looked at her waited for her to speak again. He couldn't judge her for what he saw; it was no worse than what he had nightmares about.

"Two kinds of tea," Hillary said. "A green tea that I particularly like, and an oolong that you might like. The oolong has a stronger flavor than the green does. I figure we can take a little while longer to decide on food."

Liz smiled humorlessly. "Enough doesn't actually tell me what kind of damage control I have to do," she pointed out.

"Sounds good to me." Steve settled in. He'd try the teas, at least, and see how they were.

"Who says you need to?" Bucky asked, looking at her.

Hillary gestured to the menu.

"Most of what they serve here is light and typically seasonal," she said. She grinned teasingly. "Not more than a snack for you, I'm sure."

"Everyone who's found out any details," Liz replied promptly.

Steve grinned. "Yeah, well, a snack for me is different than a snack for anyone else," he pointed out.

Bucky snorted.

"Not sure if you remember, but I'm just as messed up as you," he said. "If anyone needs to do damage control, it's me. I've got all sorts of sensitive info and shit in my head dating back to the forties."

"I know," Hillary said, still grinning. "Just giving you a head's up."

Liz shook her head. "No, you don't need to explain anything," she said. "Not to me."

Steve grinned. "Well, since you know what you're getting into," he said.

"Neither do you," Bucky replied. "I can't be judging you on being messed up when I'm just as bad, if not worse."

Hillary kept grinning and nodded.

"I think I do," she said.

"You didn't volunteer," Liz pointed out. "I did." And just because she hadn't understood what she was volunteering for didn't mean she got any leniency.

"Can't say I never warned you," Steve quipped.

"Doesn't matter," Bucky said. "My hands pull the trigger on all sorts of missions after I got broken into pieces and put back together different."

Hillary laughed a bit.

"Hey, you have to know what you're signing up for, too," she pointed out.

Liz shook her head. It was different with him, even though they'd both been changed. She curled up a little tighter, managing to set her mug down before she broke it.

"Oh, I think I've got a pretty good idea by now," Steve said with a little smirk. "Haven't left yet, have I?"

Bucky looked at her for a moment before setting his own mug down and sliding a bit closer to her. He put his good arm around her shoulders gently.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said. "Promise."

"By some miracle," Hillary said. She went a bit quiet. "Sometimes I still can't help but think you're going to come to your senses and leave again."