Rogue wished desperately that she could make things better for Bucky. Anything, if not everything. He had been through something horrible and now there was a vicious uncertainty hanging over him that wasn't likely to dissipate anytime soon. He was going to be okay, though, she was certain of that. She hadn't met the Red Skull herself, but the impressions of his evil still clung to her thoughts like a bad dream she couldn't shake. Bucky might not be in her head, but she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't anything like the creature they were trying to stop.

When Bucky looked at her, there was something in his eyes that she couldn't place, but that made her throat tighten. When was the last time someone had looked at her like that? And then he said those words and she could barely breathe. She looked down at his hand, wanting so badly to take hold of it, to accept the comfort she had wanted to give him, but she couldn't. The heavy guilt inside her wouldn't allow it.

"That wasn't the first time I've been tortured." The words slipped out easily, though they were as dull as his had been earlier. She looked away as she continued, her gaze moving past him to the dark night. "I spent three years in a lab being studied. Tested. I don't know that anyone can be okay after that."