Clint winced. That was a little harsh, but it wasn’t like he really knew Captain America all that well. He sounded a little like his dad – before all of that other stuff started – like the kind of dude that couldn’t really grasp the modern world, like he was still all tied up in what was proper in the forties and yeah, yeah actually that made a whole huge amount of sense, honestly. He couldn’t fault the guy. He understood what war could be like. He fought little private ones all the time, wherever his handler pointed him.

Clint wondered what happened to Phil, if he was killed or captured, if he was left on Earth. Hopefully the latter. Phil would know to find his kids and make sure Linda was taken care of. Same with Nat.

“I’m not expert on these things,” Clint said, trying to shrug it off. “But you might not want to say that to someone with emotional scarring.” That was a hint about Bucky Barnes too. No one wanted to be patronized that way. “I’m gonna go out on a limb here, but I think giving him a task might do him good. You know what he went through to get where he is now? Man built a power source and power armor and walked across the desert for two days after busting out of a terrorist controlled cell so protected we couldn’t find em. Guy’s tough when he’s got a goal in mind. Maybe. Who knows. I think half the stories about him are made up.”

Clint was just testing the waters here. Steve came across as authoritative, but he was also a little annoying with his preoccupation with Barnes.