Steve watches him, silent, that kind of calm that Bucky always found a little inhuman. "He could learn a little restraint," Steve says finally. "He could remember not everyone thinks the way he does. But like I said- he reminds me of Howard sometimes."

Cap's face lights up again for a brief, brief moment. "He kidnapped me once for fondue in Lucerne, right in the middle of a mission. It was kind of a running joke. Howard could seem totally irresponsible. He made passes at pretty much every woman he ever met. But he never forgot where we were or what we were trying to do. That's what folks didn't understand about him. He knew he was a celebrity, and he gave people something to talk about that wasn't the War. He kind of looked at it as another duty I guess."

Steve shakes his head, grinning at the floor. It takes him a second to remember the rest of what Bruce said. "Oh. Uh... well, there was this procedure. It worked. And then... Schmidt made sure it couldn't work again. His guy... blew the place up. Murdered the doctor."

His hands tighten into fists and his jaw works a little as he remembers Johann Schmidt and the operative that killed Erskine. "I caught the man who destroyed the project and he killed himself, right there, while I held on to his shirt."

Steve blinks, jerking slightly in surprise at his own vehemence and the words that just came spilling out. "Sorry."