Bucky sits, somehow keeping himself from untangling his grip on Steve's hand. He wants to reach out with his left hand, too, but doesn't. It's tempting to pet Steve's hair, just the same. Just to make sure Steve knows this is real, that he's here, and nothing is going to be pulling him from Steve's beside, nothing. There's a lot of things he wants to do right now, but he doesn't. There's so much to talk about, but right now a part of him wants to fall asleep on the hospital bed next to Steve.

"Yeah, well, I'da done it all over again, punk. You needed me." Steve had always been standing up for what was right. Bucky had been there to make sure he had backup when he inevitably ended up over his head. It was the least he could do; Steve had always been so sickly, watching someone round on him had been...

He smiles at Steve's words. He can't take them for anything but the compliment they were. "Yeah. Somehow. Against all odds, lookit us. We're here together. Were I a religious man, I'd call that some sort of divine intervention." Oh, those years had all been hell for him, but the fact that Steve had been there to rip the veil Hydra had thrown over him so easily is something he's not sure he can ever fully repay. "Can't say I'm lookin' forward to you going off trying to play hero again anytime soon."