"We get you somewhere more well-defended," Bucky said. "The apartment won't work for much longer."

Once Hillary was packed, she set her bag by the door and went to settle with Steve again.

"We can probably leave as soon as these last few scraps of skin come off," she said, rubbing at a stubborn patch on her hip.

"I'm guessing you have somewhere in mind already," Liz said quietly, looking at him.

Steve nodded. "We're okay for the moment," he said. "So you don't need to rush yet."

"I know a place," Bucky said. He looked at her and resettled a little closer to her. "We can go once you're a bit better."

"I can see you getting a bit antsy," Hillary said. She leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Alright." Liz yawned briefly and settled against him. "Another day, maybe. I'm almost healed."

"It's been too quiet," Steve said, shaking his head but wrapping his arm around her, making sure she was comfortable. "I don't like it."

Bucky nodded. Another day should be okay. With that, he settled in for one more day of keeping watch.

"After what happened, I kind of agree," Hillary said, cuddling close to him. "Maybe your... coworkers know more about what's been going on since?"

"You sleep yet?" Liz asked, poking his side, because she'd very quickly figured out that he was very bad about not sleeping when he didn't want to.

Steve nodded. "They've been keeping an eye on things for me, making sure that they don't hear any chatter," he agreed. "Still, I'd rather keep you safe myself."

"I'm fine," Bucky replied. He'd stayed up longer than three days in a row before. He was starting to feel it, though, and he was going to need sleep fairly soon.

Liz grumbled at him but didn't actually object. Yet. She would soon, though. Especially if he didn't voluntarily go to sleep once they got to the next safe place.

Bucky accepted the grumbling. Grumbling was okay. Grumbling was much better than the alternatives he could think of.

"I'll be fine," he said. "Really, I will."

"I'm not exactly helpless on my own," Hillary pointed out to Steve. She snuggled into his side. "But I appreciate it."

"Yes, you will, because if you insist on someone guarding for longer than the next day, I will take your phone and get Natasha to come play guard so you can sleep," Liz informed him. Because she totally could make that happen.

Steve grinned a bit. "I know," he said. "Doesn't mean I don't want to take care of you." He held her a little tighter.

"I'm fine," Bucky insisted. "Just relax and focus on healing some more. I can keep watch."

"Like I said, I appreciate it," Hillary said, relaxing a bit. She closed her eyes with a soft sigh. "I'll take a hot bath in a bit, try to soak the last of this off. We might be able to get out of here tomorrow."

"I don't know how focused I can be on healing," Liz muttered, just to be contrary. Clearly the inactivity was starting to wear on her a bit. "Extremis does that for me."

"Good." Steve smiled a bit. "We'll see how things go, then."

"Just try not to make it worse," Bucky said. "I can check your stitches if you want me to." He probably needed to take them out for her soon anyways, and it would be at least a small distraction.

"Alright," Hillary said. She snuggled closer. "There should still be something in the fridge or the pantry, if you're hungry." She knew he ate a lot more than she did, and she wasn't going to have much of an appetite anyways until a day or so after her shedding was done.

"In a bit, they haven't started pulling yet." Liz paused as she worked through that statement and then laughed a little. "And what does it say about my life that I know at what point you need to pull the stitches out before Extremis engulfs them?"

"I'm okay for now, I'll grab a snack when you're taking your bath," Steve told her with a fond little grin. "You don't have to push food on me yet." He did lean down a bit to kiss her cheek, though.

Bucky shrugged a bit.

"I figured out what the extreme points are for my arm," he said. "Similar thing. I nearly pulled the socket off once, that was a bitch."

Hillary blushed a bit.

"Sorry," she said. "I guess I'm used to Liz pushing food on me during shedding time and me pushing food on her when she starts on a tinkering binge. I'm not hungry yet, but I wasn't sure if you were or not."

"Ouch." Liz winced sympathetically. "Yeah, that does not sound fun in any way."

Steve grinned. "Tinkering binge? Sounds like Tony. Does she get distracted for hours or days?"

"They had to put me under to repair it," Bucky said. "Didn't bother waking me up after, just put me right into cryo again." He pulled up his sleeve so it was over his shoulder, and he stretched it over a little to show her the overlapping scars. "It's on there pretty solidly now."

"The longest I've seen is three days," Hillary said. She grinned. "I took her toys away after that and made her eat and bathe and sleep."

"I bet." Liz shook her head. "That doesn't really surprise me, in a way. I mean, they wanted you functional." She grimaced. "Humans are monsters, sometimes."

"Oh god she is like Tony," Steve said, slightly horrified and slightly impressed. "At least you can wrangle her though, that's good."

"Yeah, they are," Bucky agreed, nodding. "But there are some who aren't."

"It just takes practice," Hillary said, grinning. She stretched a bit. "I'm going to go try that hot bath now. Feel free to watch whatever you want on TV."

"True," Liz agreed with a little sigh. "There are some."

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything while you're in there," Steve said, moving his arm so she could get up and watching her go.

Bucky made a small neutral sound.

"Settle back in," he said a few seconds later. "Try to get some more rest."

"I will," Hillary promised. She headed into the bathroom and started running her bath. About an hour later, she finally came back out to the main room, dressed in a tee and black yoga pants. "The last of the old skin finally came off," she said. "I'm good to go now."

Liz grumped at him but reluctantly settled in.

"Good," Steve said. "Tomorrow, then, we can leave." Having a timetable and a definite plan of action made him feel better, at least.

Bucky settled in as well to resume his watch.

Hillary nodded and went to curl up on the couch with him again. She smiled a bit. "At least now we fit together a bit easier," she commented.

Steve chuckled. "I didn't mind," he said, pulling her in a bit closer. "Promise, I'll let you know if something bothers me."

"Alright." Hillary snuggled close, basking in his body heat. Contentment echoed across their bond.