Steve grinned a bit. "Good to know," he said. "Kids don't bother me any, but Buck right now..." He shrugged. "Might be better to make sure everyone gives him space."

Mavin nodded.

"Alright, I'll talk to the Professor before I leave today, then." She paused again, trying to remember if there was anything she missed. "Oh! Right, I've heard about your punching bag habit. If you need to blow off steam, talk to Logan, he'll set you up. And we're all fairly certain he's literally immortal, and at the very least his bones are unbreakable, so if he offers to spar with you, don't be afraid to take him up on it."

Because she maybe did her homework on Steve a little more thoroughly than she originally intended to.

Steve blinked at all of that before he grinned. "Unbreakable, huh? Should be fun. Sounds like a bit of a challenge to me."

"His skeleton is coated in adamantium," Mavin said, grinning a bit. "None of us know how, he doesn't talk about it, but we do know he can't go through a metal detector."

Steve snorted at that, grinning. "Oh I bet that irritates him," he said with a bit of a grin. "From what I've heard about him he's a bit of a bear."

"Well, he is called Wolverine," Mavin said, grinning. "Anyways, get settled in, there's something else that needs my attention at the moment."

"Sure," Steve said. "I'll be around, obviously. Whenever you want to talk." He smiled at her.

Mavin smiled back and headed off to another part of the mansion.

A while later, Bucky was settled in and had gone in to see the Professor. He was still quiet afterwards, but not as cold as before.

Lucy hadn't sat in on that session, but she had waited outside the door, just in case. She was still sitting on the floor when Bucky emerged again, and she looked up at him quietly.

Bucky paused when he saw her.

"Why are you sitting there?" he asked after a moment.

"Keeping track," Lucy said, blinking up at him. "I keep track of everyone, just in case, but I didn't have permission to be in the room, and you didn't need any help that time."

Bucky just nodded at that. That made enough sense that he could accept it. He struggled for a moment, trying to break through the cool numbness that came with the Soldier.

"I was... making progress," he finally said. "Before."

"Yes," Lucy agreed. "You were. I could see it." She didn't ask him what happened, though. She could tell he was already frustrated and struggling, and she wasn't going to push.

"I'm not... functioning properly," Bucky said haltingly. It was as close as he could get to saying that he knew he was still broken.

Lucy was quiet for a few moments, processing that. "It takes time," she said finally. "Which I'm sure you don't want to hear, but it's true. This isn't something that can be rushed, or patched."

"Malfunctioning assets are supposed to be decommissioned," Bucky replied, still not quite able to shake off the impersonal vocabulary yet.

Lucy shook her head. "You're not an asset," she said. "Not anymore. Not here, certainly." She watched him carefully.

"Always an asset," Bucky murmured, glancing away. He grimaced and shook his head a bit. "Hard to... shake off."

"I can guess," Lucy murmured. "When did you sleep last?" He looked like he could use a solid nap, actually.

"Not sure," Bucky admitted after a moment. "Sleep is... difficult."

"I could help, if you wanted," Lucy offered tentatively. "With the sleep. I don't know for how long, but it might help."

Bucky studied her for a moment.

"How?" he asked. He had no idea how empathy could help someone sleep. He'd heard rumors about telepathy, sure, but empathy was different.

Lucy grimaced for a moment as she tried to find the words. "I can't help with the thoughts and stuff," she said. "But I can help mute everything. It doesn't work for everyone, but sometimes if your emotions are muted and calm, it helps some people fall asleep. Or stay asleep."

Bucky considered that. It was oddly appealing, and he wasn't sure why. The Soldier wasn't supposed to feel anything, so why was the offer of muting loud feelings so attractive?

Finally, he gave a cautious nod. He didn't have much to lose, after all, and she hadn't given him any reason not to trust her.

Lucy nodded. "Now or later?" she asked, getting to her feet. Really, she could do this anytime.