Bucky shrugged.

"The others are busy," he said. Which really meant that he'd ditched them, but hey.

Kenzie quirked a bit of a smile. "I have missed you," she admitted quietly. "While I have been here."

"You could have come back sooner," Bucky pointed out. He didn't mean it to be mean, and hoped it came across right.

"I wasn't ready," Kenzie said with a shrug, because that was true. "I would have run again if I'd gone back sooner."

"We could have helped you," Bucky pointed out. "You've got a bunch of us now, we could have done something."

Kenzie shook her head. "As I said, tomorrow we'll go back," she said. "If I need help then, I will let you know." Because while she was used to her hoard helping her, it was normally in more abstract, less hands-on ways.

Bucky nodded and settled in a bit more. He felt better, now that he was near her again.

Kenzie ended up moving after a little while to the nest she'd set up. It wasn't a proper bed, but it was comfortable.

"You know, this is more comfortable than the chair for sleeping, I promise."

Bucky blinked.

"Really?" he asked. "You sure? The arm's not exactly comfortable for sleeping on..."

"I occasionally sleep on piles of gold and gems," Kenzie said dryly. "You won't bother me." She rolled to the side to give him more room.

Bucky just raised an eyebrow again, because that was an oddly appealing mental image. He took the invitation though, and settled in with her on the cushions.

Kenzie huffed at him. "Stubborn," she muttered, rather affectionately. "Go to sleep, I can still hear you thinking."

"Trust me, you'd rather me be thinking than not," Bucky muttered as he settled in. "It wasn't pretty, before."

"I know. I have known you for a while now." Kenzie shrugged. "You are much more stable now than you were when I met you."

"Still not the way I used to be," Bucky murmured. "Used to be better."

"And perhaps you will be," Kenzie soothed. "But for now, improvement is improvement. Do not belittle what progress you have made because you are not what you once were. Everyone changes."

Bucky grumbled a bit, but settled in all the same. For now, resting sounded like a good plan.

Kenzie ended up actually getting some sleep, which meant she ended up curled up as close to Bucky as she could get. Because yes, she was a cuddler. Not that she minded, normally, and she knew Gemma didn't mind. But Bucky she wasn't sure about.

Bucky was a little hesitant at first, but he relaxed quickly enough. Something about it was soothing, comforting, and he drifted off to sleep feeling safer than he had in ages.

Kenzie woke first in the morning and got up quietly. She didn't have to do much to get ready to go, but she wanted to let him sleep. So she settled herself just outside to watch for a little while.

Bucky was a very light sleeper, fortunately, and he woke when Kenzie got up. Quietly, he got up and followed her outside.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning." Kenzie glanced at him. "Do you need to gather anything before we go?"

Bucky shook his head a bit.

"Just have the one bag," he said. "What about you?"

"Nothing that needs to come with me." Kenzie shrugged. "I'll just cover this place again until I need it."

Bucky nodded.

"Okay," he said. He stretched a bit, working his metal shoulder socket a bit.