"Yeah. It really is." Steve hooks one shoulder in a shrug. "It was Dr. Erskine. All I did was lie on my enlistment forms until someone noticed. I'm just lucky it was him and not an MP."

The grin hasn't gone away, even if the doctor and what happened to him are a little hard to think about. Steve never gets to talk about all this. Everyone just knows. It's nice of Bruce to let him ramble.

"I was the smallest guy in basic. The other fellas used to call me Erskine's gerbil- Peggy told me later that Colonel Phillips actually started that one."

He laughs. "That's when I met Howard, too- well, after that, after the doctor confirmed me for the program. He- Howard Stark - he designed all the machines Dr. Erskine used, plus all the weapons the SSR used in the field."

He goes a little distant then. "Sometimes Tony reminds me of him. Just for about a second, there are times when he really looks like Howard's son."

Howard's son. When Howard was older than Steve, not even considering a steady girl let alone a family life. Steve looks at his hands again. He would have liked it, he thinks - raising kids next to his war buddies, seeing who they found to stand beside them when it was all over. "He was a good man."