Steve staggered over to the coffee maker the next morning and downed three cups before he felt even slightly human.

It had been a long night. Tanya had cried herself to sleep in Bucky's arms. And once she was settled in bed, Bucky had disappeared into the gym for several hours, emerging with bloody knuckles and a haunted look in his eyes that Steve hadn't seen in months. Somehow, Steve manhandled him into his bed and sat up with him for most of the night as Bucky shook and stared silently into the distance.

Steve was honestly surprised he had gotten even a few minutes of sleep. Bucky's agonized expression was going to be in his nightmares for months.

"-and then half a cup of milk," Natasha said. "There you go."

Steve blinked in surprise and turned bleary eyes over to the other side of the kitchen. He had forgotten Natasha was going to be teaching Tanya how to make scones.

Tanya solemnly poured in the milk and reached for a wooden spoon.

"What's the matter?" Natasha asked. "You don't seem like your usual cheery self. Did those boys keep you up all night telling ghost stories?"

Tanya hunched her shoulders and gave the mixture a half-hearted stir. "Why bother with ghost stories when real life is bad enough?'

"Oh, honey," Natasha said. She gave Steve a sharp glare. "Really, Rogers? You told her about her father? What's the matter with you? We're supposed to keep her happy and healthy until we get her back to her time, not traumatize her."

"We weren't trying to traumatize her," Steve protested. "Bucky just thought-"

"Barnes," Natasha growled.

Bucky froze, one foot in the doorway. His gaze flicked between Natasha and Tanya and then went straight to the floor. "I'll be down in the gym," he said quietly.

"No, you won't," Steve said. He grabbed Bucky's arm before he could make his getaway and tugged him into the kitchen. "You're not going to spend hours down there on an empty stomach."

Bucky struggled in his grip. "Lemme go, Steve. I'm giving Tanya her space. Doubt she wants to see me around after everything that came out last night."

"You're a moron," Steve said. "If she doesn't want to be around you, she won't be. Don't go making decisions for her."

"He can stay," Tanya said in a small voice. "He needs breakfast."

Bucky swallowed thickly. "Are you sure, sweetheart?"

"I'm sure." Tanya said with a decisive nod. She reached into the bowl and grabbed a handful of dough. "Natasha says when you bake, everything else goes away and it's just you and the dough."

"It is excellent stress relief," Natasha said, squeezing a clump of dough in one fist as she gave Bucky a menacing look.

"Nat, what do I do now?" Tanya asked.

"Sprinkle some flour on your board there and roll out the dough until it's about half an inch thick. Let me know when you're ready to move on to the next step."

"Okay," Tanya said. "Sounds easy enough."

Natasha rounded the counter and got right up into Bucky's face. "Just because you feel like a monster doesn't mean you have to act like one," she hissed. "I know you feel terrible about what happened to the Starks, but upsetting Tanya isn't going to make things better."

"I wasn't trying to upset her. I just wanted her to be informed."

"That's bullshit, Barnes. What you were trying to do is make her hate you because you feel too guilty about how much she likes you. If you care about her at all, you need to get your shit together and play nice with her."

Bucky slowly sank into a chair without taking his eyes off Natasha.

"Good," she said. "Stop torturing yourself and eat something."

"She's right, you know," Steve said. He poured Bucky a cup of coffee. "You'll feel better after breakfast."

Bucky curled his hands around the cup. "I doubt it," he said.

"Nobody said breakfast would fix everything. But it's a step in the right direction. Now, what do you want me to make you? Bacon and eggs, pancakes, oatmeal?"

"I can feed myself," Bucky groused. But he made no move to get up.

"Pancakes it is," Steve said.

"I think we're out of eggs, actually," Tanya said. Under Natasha's careful supervision, she slid the first tray of scones into the oven. "I used two for the scones and I used a couple yesterday for french toast."

"That's okay," Steve said. "Bucky will be happy with a couple slices of bacon until he figures out what he actually wants to eat."

Bucky gave Steve a look that was decidedly not happy, but Steve shoved another cup of coffee at him and started cooking the bacon.

With both the bacon and the scones cooking nicely, the kitchen was starting to smell pretty heavenly. Steve felt only the slightest bit guilty about helping himself to one of the slices of Bucky's bacon. After all, he hadn't eaten breakfast either.

Bucky picked at his bacon and waved Steve away when he tried to pour him a third cup of coffee. "I think I'm just going to go back to bed. Maybe sleep till the ext century."

"You do need the rest," Steve said. "You had maybe two hours last night."

"I've had worse," Bucky muttered. "I deserve worse."

"We're not going to talk like this," Steve said firmly. "You deserve so much better than all the shit Hydra put you through."

"Here," Tanya said. She placed a plate of scones down in front of Bucky. "I know it's not pancakes, but I promise they're good. It's Natasha's recipe."

Bucky's mouth dropped open and then he surged up from the table so fast the chair toppled over. "God, you're a good kid," he said fervently, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "How are you so perfect?"

"Jarvis?" Tanya offered.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. God bless that man."

"You know what else will make you feel better?" Tanya whispered. "A new outfit. Daddy's like a totally different person when he puts on a suit."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Bucky said. "New look, new me."

Steve smiled encouragingly. "I'll come shopping with you if you want, Buck. It'll be good for both of us to stop living in the past." And when they rescued him from the portal, Tony would be thrilled to see that Steve had finally updated his wardrobe.

"Don't feel like going out," Bucky muttered. "I'll just have Jarvis scan me and pick something out that fits me."

"I'm sorry, Sergeant Barnes, but I'm afraid I can't do that."

Bucky squinted up at the ceiling. "What are you talking about? Of course you can. Just scan my measurements and I'll pick the clothes out myself."

"I'm afraid I don't have that functionality."

"Yes, you do," Tanya said firmly. "You scanned me the first day I got here."

There was a long pause. "My apologies," Jarvis said. "But I cannot find the necessary equipment. I must research this malfunction."

Steve sighed. He had never seen Jarvis malfunction before. He had just assumed that being Tony's creation, Jarvis would always work perfectly. But maybe Tony was constantly working on him behind the scenes so the team never had to see anything less than perfection. They had really been taking all of Tony's hard work for granted.

"Never mind, Jarvis," Steve said. "Bucky and I can do this the old fashioned way." He patted Bucky's shoulder. "I know you don't feel like going out, but some fresh air will do you good."

"I have one mental breakdown and suddenly everyone wants to play therapist," Bucky snarled. He shoved a scone into his mouth. "These are good, though. They definitely help."

"We're making lemon curd next," Tanya said. "If you hurry, you might be back just in time for it to cool."

Bucky huffed and snatched another scone off the plate. "Fine, fine," he said. "But I better get first dibs on the stuff." He elbowed Steve on the way out of the kitchen. "Let's go, loser."

Steve smiled faintly. Bucky was probably going to be in a foul mood all morning, but he'd rather see him pissed off than broken.