Maybe he really would cry. Steve had always been sensitive. The army had beaten a lot of that out of him and Bucky’s death might as well have sealed the deal for him and tears forever. It felt like just a few days ago that it had happened and for him, it really had just been a few days ago. No matter what accent James used, Steve could still hear his real voice through it. And it stabbed at him with every pause.

If ‘James’ was going to insist on the name, Steve wouldn’t push him. Something had happened when he fell, just as it had happened to Steve when he went in the ice. Their bodies, the serum, it wouldn’t let them die. Not easily. And now Bucky was back. Just changed. HYDRA had gotten to him, but he was still in there. All of this proved to Steve it had.

He lowered his long eyelashes before he pushed too much. His breathing shook, but he commanded it to stop. Just for now.

“Something like that.” This could all be a ploy. This could all be an elaborate HYDRA plot. But should Bucky be alive and they both be stuck in a future neither understood, Steve would be there for them both. And that required more strength than he could muster right now. Best be at least a little wary. “That mask probably gives you away. Get changed.”