1.

Natasha knocked on Steve's door, her mind running over the plans for today's hearing. She undid her jacket as she waited, slightly chilled by the first hard frost of the winter.

She checked the time - a little early, but Steve was usually up by this hour. He was slow to answer, though...

The door opened and Steve stood there, wearing a two-day scruff of beard, barefoot in a faded green t-shirt and jeans. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Natasha. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to go over your hearing evidence before you go in," she said, holding up the file folder she'd brought. He frowned, looking nonplussed, and she waited a moment. "Can I come in?"

There was an almost imperceptible pause before Steve stepped back. "Uh. Sure, yeah, come in," he said, and let her in. She glanced at him as she went by, puzzled. She'd been to see him a lot in the month since he'd moved back to New York, trying to make the transition easier for him, and he was always polite and welcoming no matter what time it was.

"We've gone over what I can and can't talk about," he pointed out as she made her way to his living room.

"I know. I figured you might want some extra practice."

Steve hesitated, then shrugged and headed for his kitchen. "Fair enough. Do you want some coffee?"

"No thanks. But water would be good." Natasha settled herself on the couch and drew her feet under her, taking out some pictures of odd markings.

"Feet off the couch," said Steve automatically, bringing her a glass, and she smirked and uncurled herself. "What are those?" He nodded at the pictures.

"I've also been asked for input on some weird symbols that have been showing up on different HYDRA-related artifacts and... other places," said Natasha. "I thought we could maybe look them over, too."

Steve sat down. "You know my hearing's not till ten," he pointed out.

"I know. I've brought other..." she trailed off and took in his slightly stiff body language. "Is this a bad time?"

Steve started to shake his head, then stopped. "It's... not the best," he admitted. "Don't worry about it. You have notes for the hearing?"

Natasha frowned and handed him the questions they'd been working on. It had taken weeks for Tony's people to lose the fight to have Steve come in and testify live and not just from pre-prepared questions. Now that he had to go in live, they'd tried to anticipate everything he could possibly be asked. "You're usually an early riser and you're always back from your run by now. Break from routine?"

"You could say that," said Steve in an offhand voice, scanning the notes. "Haven't seen this one before. The only answer I can think of pretty much incriminates Phil Coulson in hiding Bucky."

"Steve?" a male voice called out from Steve's bedroom.

Steve didn't react for a moment, then gave Natasha a resigned look and turned to call over his shoulder, "In the living room."

A dark-haired man, sprinkles of grey in his hair, emerged from the bedroom, tucking his shirt into his jeans distractedly. "Did I leave my jacket out there?"

Steve glanced around his living room. "Uh. Yeah." He stood and picked up a leather jacket, handing it to the stranger, who'd stopped short at the sight of Natasha.

"Oh." He glanced at Steve. "You didn't say you'd-"

"Brian, this is my friend," Steve waved at Natasha, and Natasha stepped forward before he could name her.

"Connie," she said, putting out her hand to shake Brian's. Brian gave her a bit of a puzzled glance and shook her hand.

"Uh, did you want a coffee?" Steve asked. "Or - no, you said you had to-"

"Yeah, high-tail out before traffic gets bad." He glanced at Natasha curiously again. "So... uh, nice to meet you, I guess." He gave her a smile and Steve walked him to the front door.

Natasha glanced about the room again, taking in the details, completely off-balance. There weren't two wine glasses or dishes in the sink; no other visible detritus of a date. It was neat and clean as usual at Steve's place. She looked toward the front door where Steve was talking quietly to the man, who was nodding and smiling. Then Steve fell silent and both of them looked a little shy and awkward before Steve gave a small laugh and reached out for him, taking him in his arms for a long moment before pulling away and exchanging a gentle kiss with him. Natasha averted her eyes.

What the...

How long had Steve been keeping this a secret? She'd been with him a lot lately, not just at work but socially, as the year wound down and the holiday season began, aware that he must be suffering no matter how well-adjusted he seemed. He'd never given a hint that he was even looking for anyone new - let alone had found someone.

And he was the poster boy for "beyond-hellish breakup." Three weeks post-breakup was hardly the best time to jump into a new relationship.

Steve came back to the couch and sat back down, picking up the hearing notes, looking completely composed.

Damn it, for all she knew, she might be completely off on this. It might be moving too fast, but for all she knew this... Brian person could be the best thing that could happen to Steve.

"How long have you known Brian?" asked Natasha.

"Since about ten last night," said Steve, his voice cool.

Natasha blinked.

"And... he knows your first name?"

Steve shrugged. "I've used my middle name before, but with me being in the news all the time lately I figured anyone who's going to recognize my face will recognize me unless I use an alias." He scribbled a reminder on the hearing notes. "Which I don't much want to do."

Natasha gathered herself. "Have you... done this before?"

"A few times."

"You said you'd only ever been with Bucky."

"Not any more." Steve's voice was flat.

Natasha abruptly felt ill.

"I'm going on with my life," he said evenly. "Isn't that what everyone wants me to do?"

"I'm not sure this is how we meant."

"Hey, Bucky used to go through dozens of girls when we weren't together."

Natasha winced at the bitterness peeking through the nonchalant tone. "And you're... trying to copy him?"

"At least I don't have to go with girls, right? Brave new world. Though I did figure I should at least try once." He glanced up and caught her blanch. "Don't worry, I made sure to go with the one girl in that bar who wasn't drunk."

Natasha shook her head in dismay. God, no. No - never mind that this didn't fit with the wholesome Captain America image; it didn't fit with Steve.

"Natasha." He put down his pen. "I'm a grown man. What I do with my private life is nobody's business. I haven't been recognized before now, as far as I know, but if I am, so be it. I don't care."

Steve was bleeding, bleeding while trying to look like everything was just fine.

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Natasha.

"Why? Did I need your permission?"

Natasha blinked at the simmering anger in his tone. "No. Of course not."

Steve picked up his pen again and turned back to the notes. Natasha watched him for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

"Steve." He pressed his lips together and looked up at her, resentment emanating from him like a dark cloud.

"I'm sorry. You're right. You're a grown man, you don't need my permission to do anything."

Steve's eyes narrowed but he nodded cautiously.

"I... I shouldn't have barged in this morning. I'll let myself out." She reached out for the file with the odd symbols.

Steve blew out his breath and caught her hand. "Nat." He waited until she looked at him before continuing. "You don't have to go. And I appreciate the concern. I just don't need it."

Natasha hesitated. "I've never - I never meant to..." She swallowed. "I was never trained in friendship," she said awkwardly.

Steve's eyebrows drew together.

"I've been worried about you since... since you were found, actually," she continued, feeling more off-balance than she could remember feeling in years. "But especially since Bucky reappeared." Steve stiffened slightly. "I know that this wasn't what you wanted. I know my... my interference wasn't-"

"I know you were trying to do the right thing," Steve interrupted her. "But you can't blame me for not being thrilled at the outcome."

Natasha looked away.

Steve leaned back on the couch. "Look," he said tiredly. "For what it's worth, this..." he made a vague gesture toward his bedroom. "I'm not just - I don't much wanna discuss my sex life with you, but if you're that curious, go talk to Sam."

Natasha nodded, keeping her face impassive. Of course. Sam. Sam was able to do what she couldn't, what the Red Room had never taught her. She'd tried to be a friend, but she wasn't what Steve needed.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Nat," said Steve gently, and she looked up at him, startled that he was reading her thoughts. "You've been a good friend even when I disagreed with you. Sam just happened to be who I went to talk to after the first time. And it's not... something I'm proud of, so it's not something I wanna talk about any more than absolutely necessary."

2.

"How is Steve?" she asked Sam bluntly the next day over lunch as soon as they were served.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Don't you spend just about every day with him? How do you think he's doing?"

Natasha gave him a level glare. "Don't." She put down her fork. "I saw him yesterday. Asked him how things were going, and he told me to ask you."

Sam took a sip of his wine. "What was the context?" he asked cautiously.

"It had to do with the guy with no last name coming out of his bedroom."

Sam briefly closed his eyes and then put down his wine glass. "Right. Yeah, that." He sighed. "Short version: he's lousy, Nat."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since about a week after he got back," said Sam. "He showed up at my door the morning after the first time."

"He seemed to be doing fine." She took a bite of her pasta. "Why does he do it?"

"Beyond the obvious?" Sam asked dryly. "People in pain do a lotta different things to deal with it. Some of them don't seem to make sense. Besides, Steve can't really drink away or drug away what he's feeling, so, you know, not many other ways to forget..."

"Why did he come to see you?"

Sam's mouth quirked slightly. "Probably 'cause I've held a lotta hands and used up a ton of tissues trying to hold together soldiers who finally fall apart." He took another sip of his wine. "He was fine, at first, seemed a little down, but I just thought it looked like normal post-breakup blues - kicked up a notch 'cause of the ex's mental health issues. Nothing I haven't seen before, right?" He sighed. "Then he told me he'd picked up some guy the night before and... Jesus." He looked at Natasha, his dark eyes shadowed. "Never thought I'd end up with Captain America sobbing in my arms for a couple hours." He put down his glass. "Nat, the guy's in a lot of pain. The one good thing that came out of it was I got him to agree to see a counsellor."

"And has he?"

"Yeah. I'd found one for him even before he went away. Lots of experience with combat stress, separation, abusive relationships, crazy exes, sexual assault, and same-sex couples. And a mouth sealed tighter than Fort Knox."

"How?"

"I know a lotta people," said Sam. "Of course, the guy's way past retirement age. Which I was seeing as a minus until I remembered he's twenty years younger than Steve."

"Did he talk to you about why he was so upset?"

"We talked for about five hours, so yeah. It's like getting blood from a stone to get him to open up, but... there was just a lot of stuff in there."

"Is he still talking to you?"

"Not much." Sam rolled his eyes. "You know Steve. His natural instinct? Clam up, push it down, and cope as best he can, even when his coping mechanisms are fucked up. That's why I forced him to promise to go to counselling. He's at least two pay grades over my expertise, not to mention we shouldn't treat our friends."

Natasha idly played with her fork, her appetite gone.

Sam took a bite of garlic bread and gazed at her. "You gonna ask me about the other half now?" he asked.

"Bucky?"

"Yeah."

"You haven't talked to Steve about him, have you?"

Sam shook his head. "Bucky doesn't want him to know anything. Steve's given up asking."

Natasha considered. Sam was still in touch with whoever happened to be guarding Bucky right now, since nobody in authority seemed to realize just how deeply he'd been involved with the Winter Soldier, but Natasha had distanced herself, in part because she was still being periodically questioned.

But maybe that was just an excuse.

"How is he?"

Sam grimaced. "Steve's doing awesome compared to Bucky. I've got word from the newest safehouse that he keeps trying to get out. They've foiled three attempts in the last week alone, and one time he actually got out - they just knocked him out before he could go too far. And they're doing their best with him but he's just nasty. Violent, hostile, snarling at everyone. Says they're no better than HYDRA, he shouldn't have given himself up." He shook his head. "It's like he was on his best behavior as long as Steve was there, and without Steve it's all gone to shit."

Natasha took a bite of her spaghetti, stolidly resisting the impulse to cover her face and scream.

"This isn't your fault," said Sam quietly.

Natasha frowned at him. "I'm well aware of that."

"No, you're not." He put down his garlic bread and leaned forward. "This isn't your fault," he repeated intently. "You were right to want Steve to come back, whether you manipulated it into happening or not. Never mind that he was about to have a warrant out for his arrest: he's not responsible for Bucky's condition and he was gonna throw away his whole life to help him. And there was no guarantee that it was gonna help."

"Except that as soon as he left Bucky fell apart," Natasha pointed out. "And now Steve's falling apart too." She put down her knife. "I thought at least I was protecting Steve." She winced at how that came out. Whining and regrets were for people who could afford them.

"You can't protect him. That's life, Natasha," said Sam gently. "Steve's gonna move on, eventually. Bucky I don't know. I'm good with soldiers coming home and PTSD and mourning and survivor guilt and even losing a husband or wife to mental illness. The timelines are a little screwed up, but there's not a lot that Steve's going through that other soldiers haven't survived too." He took a sip of his wine and shook his head. "I don't know 'brainwashed into an assassin for seventy years.' I got no clue what's gonna happen there."

3.

Natasha sipped her latte and checked the time. Twenty minutes till Steve was due to meet her at the cafe so they could go to the latest round of Winter Soldier testimony. She had time to waste, indulging in some mind-candy celebrity news and Angry Birds on her Starkpad, and centering herself before the hearing.

And hopefully this was the last round of testimony. They'd reached an impasse in the last few weeks, really; she, Steve, Tony and Sam had said all they were going to say, Tony's legal team had nicely made sure that there was little or no chance that they'd be challenged on the stuff they refused to talk about, Clint and Bruce had flown completely under the radar, and it looked like things were stabilizing.

Steve's square-jawed earnestness was winning the day in the press. His staunch defence of Bucky had been largely accepted, and if Captain America said the man known as the Winter Soldier was in reality a war hero who was a little down on his luck, then by God, America was ready to believe him. Besides, Khloe Kardashian had just done a photo shoot for Hustler, and the Winter Soldier was so last month. Of course everything could go haywire at today's hearing, but with any luck, they were free and clear.

She turned on her Starkpad.

...or everything could go nuts.

Bozhe moi.

Captain America, Gay?! screamed the headline. Two grainy pictures of Steve in a restaurant with a dark-skinned man who was definitely not Sam accompanied the headline. They were smiling at each other, one photo showed them holding hands and the other had the man's hand on Steve's cheek, and neither looked platonic at all. Below was a very brief interview between Steve and the paper - oh good, at least this wouldn't come as a shock to Steve, then.

Rogers was asked whether he agreed that the photos were suggestive: "Yes, they are," he said. He declined to make a statement, but told us, "Go ahead and print them."

Breathless speculation followed. Natasha groaned and clicked away.

Great. The initial story had been picked up everywhere. From the lead on the gossip sites to side bits on the mainstream sites, speculation about Steve was rocketing through cyberspace.

"Natasha," Steve appeared beside her and she looked up. "Ready?" He handed her his extra helmet and headed for his motorcycle.

"Have you seen the news?" she asked as she followed him, tossing her forgotten latte in the trash as they left the cafe.

"What news?" he asked, preoccupied.

"Steve." She put a hand on his arm, stopping him. "The call you got yesterday about some pictures? Of you on a date - with a man?"

Steve blinked. "Oh. Right." He moved to his bike and got on, gesturing to her helmet.

"They published the pictures," she said, putting the helmet on. "They said you told them to go ahead."

Steve shrugged. "It's not like there was any point in asking them not to." He indicated the back of the bike. "Come on, Natasha. Get on. I don't want to be late. There was roadwork slowing me down the whole way here."

"Steve." Natasha got on and put her arms around his waist. "This is serious."

"Not as serious as being late to the hearing," said Steve. He started the bike and they headed off, and Natasha reflected that she didn't really want to have this conversation while yelling into the wind. Hopefully they'd have a few minutes to talk before the hearing.

They parked and headed toward the front doors of the building where the hearings were being held. As they approached, a young redheaded woman ran up to him, followed by two men with cameras. Some local news station, probably.

"Captain America, can you address the latest rumors about you?" she asked, shoving a microphone at Steve.

"What rumors?" Steve said, looking worried.

"Those pictures that were published? It looked like you were on a date?"

"I was."

"So you're gay?" she asked eagerly.

"I'm gay," Steve said brusquely. "I'm also a little busy. Was there something else you wanted to ask about?"

The reporter looked like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Cinco de Mayo had just come together all at once for her. Steve even looked like a celebrity reporter's dashing dream, helmet under one arm and jacket opened to show a business suit underneath, his hair slightly ruffled by the wind. Natasha ran a quick hand through her hair.

"Did you want to make a statement?" asked the reporter.

Steve blinked. "Why? I just made one."

"Why didn't you say anything to the paper that called you about them last night?"

His lips pressed together briefly. "Because I can't stop them from printing the pictures and I have nothing to hide, but I don't feel like rewarding stalkers who follow people around when they're just having dinner."

"When did you know you were gay?"

Steve's mouth quirked. "When did you know you were straight?"

The reporter chuckled. "Some people have said that this is proof that this century is corrupting everyone, because you weren't gay before."

Steve's lips thinned and Natasha was grateful for the reporter's sake that she apparently wasn't familiar with Steve's 'I have had just about enough of this bullshit' face.

"Since none of them were in my bed before, I don't see how they can say that. Gays existed back in my time too, you know. We were just forced to hide. Excuse me, we've got a hearing to attend." He stepped past the reporter, who sidled up to Natasha.

"Did you know?" she asked Natasha. They entered the building.

"We all knew," said Natasha. She jogged to catch up with Steve, heading for the elevator. "No, I'm sorry, we have to go over confidential documents," she said, punching the button for the floor they were going to. The door closed and they were alone. "'None of them were in my bed before?'" she said to Steve. "You know that's going to be the clip played over and over on Youtube."

Steve gave her a grim smile and looked at his reflection in the elevator mirror, taking off his outer jacket and straightening his tie.

"Are you OK?" asked Natasha, checking her own appearance as well. Late January on a motorcycle; it certainly heightened the color on her cheeks, and she'd made sure to wear something business-style-appropriate for the hearing, but not prone to getting mussed.

"Why wouldn't I be OK?"

"You do realize it's all over the news, right?"

"I'm familiar with how the internet works, yeah," Steve said impatiently.

"How did your date go?" she asked him. He obviously didn't feel like talking about being outed, and there was no time to have a heart-to-heart about the news anyway, what with the hearing happening in minutes.

"Fine."

"Who was it?"

"Uh, Lee. Sam set us up. Nice guy."

Natasha nodded. Sam had mentioned to her a week or so ago that he'd put Steve in touch with a single friend of his. Can't have Captain America slutting around the gay bar scene, he'd muttered, and she had to agree.

"He's a nice guy," Steve repeated. "If it wasn't for Bucky, I'd probably be very interested." He took a deep breath. "So I'm giving this a shot, and we're dating, because it'll get you and Sam off my back and because I can't wait for Bucky for the rest of my life." He glanced at her. "And yes, Lee knows my issues. He's got some of his own."

"Good thing none of your hookups have come forward," she said neutrally.

"Good thing."

"So how many were there?"

"No idea," said Steve indifferently, and Natasha didn't bother to argue with him. He was Captain America. He had an excellent serum-enhanced memory. There was no way he had no idea.

"That's one good thing about this century," she commented. "The fact that they were anonymous pickups might be more of a scandal than the fact that they were men."

Steve shrugged. "I guess so."

The elevator reached their floor and they got out, heading down the long carpeted hallway to the hearing room. Natasha noted gratefully that the place seemed fairly empty; though there had been a great deal of interest over the hearings when they'd started, with lots of press in attendance, it seemed to be old news now. And except for the reporter in front of the building, the rest of the media didn't seem to have tracked Steve to this hearing, today. Yet.

"You preferred how things were in your time?" she asked.

"No, of course not," he said. "It's just... for the first little while after I got used to this century, it..." he searched for words. "It pissed me off."

"What did?"

He looked down. "I was so jealous," he said, his voice low. "You have no idea. I know, it's not perfect today either. But the difference between then and now is - it's night and day."

"Was it that bad?"

He grimaced impatiently. "Natasha. It wasn't just being shy, or being afraid of being ostracized. It was being afraid for our lives. It was being afraid of going to prison. And we just accepted it, like we deserved it. Like there was no other way it could be." He paused. "Bucky would sometimes talk about wishing things were different, but it was like wishing we could fly."

"And that pisses you off now?"

Steve shrugged. "I know it's petty, but all of this? All this acceptance and approval and being able to be together without hiding? We never got any of that. Now we never will."

They entered the hearing room and Natasha nodded to Tony and Sam as they sat down. Tony was checking something that looked like a circuit design; Sam was reading over the last hearing's transcript, and neither seemed to have seen the news this morning, if their complete lack of commentary was any indication.

She sat up as the panel began the questioning with her, and kept her face impassive as she answered their questions, spinning a little here, downplaying a little there, and wishing Tony would drop the sardonic smirk and snarky little asides, because it was really getting old.

In fact, this was all getting old. There was little that was new in the questioning today, as they moved from her to Sam. Even the mood in the chamber was a little perfunctory...

With occasional little undertones of excitement here and there, mostly from people looking down, presumably at their devices.

Wonderful. If only Steve hadn't come out right now. But then again, it was going to happen eventually... may as well happen now.

She glanced around the hearing room. Now the press area was slowly filling up. This was supposed to have been the final tie-up before they got to serious negotiations about what to do with Bucky, but Natasha doubted it was going to remain that way. These reporters weren't the same steady set of serious journalists she'd seen covering the story in-depth from the beginning, or the young ones assigned for occasional coverage once it became clear that, really, there weren't going to be any major news items coming from these hearings after the first day.

These weren't serious reporters. A bunch of them were celebrity news stalkers. Here because Steve had been semi-outed the day before, and possibly was being outed completely right now, depending on when the talk he'd just had with that reporter outside was posted.

The panel was asking a number of questions of Tony about his tech and how he'd helped track the Winter Soldier, to which Tony was replying with his regular smart-assery to the tune of, "If I tell you exactly how it works, it wouldn't do much good, would it?"

There was a brief break as Tony's questions ended and the members of the panel convened. A discussion, which soon turned into furious whispers, seemed to be going on between two of them in particular. Finally they turned back to the team.

"Captain Rogers," Senator McAllen, who'd been markedly unsympathetic so far, began. "We'd like to ask you some additional questions about your relationship with Sergeant Barnes in light of... recent developments."

Steve nodded and moved closer to the microphone.

The Senator's sharp blue eyes bored into Steve's. "I take it you've made a bit of a splash in the media today."

"Yes, sir," said Steve. Tony frowned at him and looked down at his Starkpad, rapidly typing. He drew in his breath and jerked his head up, glaring at Natasha.

"Did you know about this?" he whispered. Natasha nodded and Tony tilted the pad so that Sam could look at it too.

Natasha leaned closer to the microphone. "I trust these questions will be relevant to the purpose of this panel, Senator," she said.

"They will be," the Senator replied.

Sam's lips were pressed together as his eyes scanned over the words - and oh good, there was a link to a video with the redheaded reporter's picture on it. Steve glanced at Natasha and she gave him an encouraging smile.

"Your position has always been that the Winter Soldier was not responsible for any of the crimes he's guilty of," the Senator began.

"That's correct," said Steve.

"It's the position of all of the Avengers, Senator," Natasha reminded him.

"And you've argued against having him pay for his crimes."

"Against having to pay for what he was forced to do, yeah," Tony clarified.

"Captain Rogers, were you and Sergeant Barnes intimate?"

There was a rustle from the media, and a long pause as Steve looked down.

"Yes," he said, and there was a murmur around the room.

"Since when?"

"Since we were teenagers."

There was a long pause. "Did it occur to you to tell this panel?" asked the Senator.

"Nobody asked, and it wasn't my place to tell, sir," Steve said tightly. "Sergeant Barnes wasn't here to agree to be outed."

"So why tell us now?"

"Because I'm under oath and I don't have a choice."

"You do realize this makes all of your testimony suspect," said the Senator. "You're biased."

"Yes, sir, I am," Steve agreed. "But I don't think I'd be less biased if we'd never slept together. We've been best friends since childhood. Everybody on this panel knew that."

"And hey, I've never slept with the guy," said Tony helpfully. "None of us have. And we're saying the same thing Captain Rogers is."

The Senator pointedly ignored Tony. "You were involved while you were in the Army?"

"Yes sir," said Steve.

"That was illegal at the time. It was illegal to serve at all if you were a homosexual. You were breaking the law, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," he said evenly.

"In fact, you had to lie to get in, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"You felt you were justified?" asked another member of the panel, a Colonel who'd seemed mutedly sympathetic to them in the past.

"Yes ma'am, I did. We both did. Our country needed us."

She gave him a small smile.

"The fact is, though, that you lied because you felt you knew better," said the Senator heavily. "You were not above breaking the law-"

"No sir, I wasn't," Steve said, and the Senator blinked as Steve leaned forward, still polite, but steely-voiced and visibly angry. "I could have used any number of reasons to not serve, including the fact that I was a homosexual during a time when our country felt that we would rather lose the war than have men like me serving. When our government felt that men like me were a greater threat than Nazism."

The Senator had the grace to look uncertain. "Still, your illicit relationship-"

"The only thing illicit about it was the bigotry of the time," Steve snapped. "And if you're trying to make me feel ashamed, or defensive, you'll have to try a little harder. In my day having something like this come out meant a lot more than disapproving looks and insinuations: it meant prison and complete disgrace." He paused a moment, pressing his lips together, and Natasha could feel the press behind her frantically recording and taking notes. "Yes, Bucky and I were in a relationship," he said, a little more quietly. "And yes, we both hid our orientation from the Army in order to defend our country. I still feel that we were right, and I would do it again in a second."

There was a brief pause and the Senator looked down at his notes. "Sergeant Barnes was known as a ladies' man, wasn't he?"

Steve blinked. "Yes, sir."

"Even though he was a homosexual."

"We sure like saying that word, don't we?" Tony muttered under his breath, loud enough for the microphone to pick it up. There was a rustle of amusement from the rapidly filling press section.

"So he was fairly skilled at deception," the Senator pointed out. "Even before his supposed brainwashing."

Steve flushed. "He was a single man in the thirties and forties, sir. He did like women, but he also knew he had to keep up an image or be suspected."

"So it was all just an act? He didn't have dozens of girlfriends, like the history books say?"

Steve shook his head. "He did, but he also played up the image."

"But you were a couple?" the Senator asked, and Steve nodded. "And he cheated on you?"

"Excuse me sir," Natasha leaned forward. "Is this an inquiry into Sergeant Barnes and the danger he poses to the American public, or is this an inquiry into whether he's gay or bisexual?"

"Or is this just random prying into Captain America' sexual history?" asked Tony innocently.

"It's relevant," said the Senator, glaring at Tony.

"I'm not sure it is," said another member of the panel.

"It's relevant because they could still be together. And if Captain Rogers was able to find excuses for infidelity-"

"We are not still together," said Steve, annoyed. "Sir, I've pointed out several times under oath that I have not seen James Barnes in months. I have no idea where he is. I am currently dating somebody else." Muted thrum from the press. "I'm not here testifying as Bucky's partner, I'm here as a friend and as somebody who knows him well and who understands what kind of danger he poses, and what his role was in becoming dangerous." He glared at the Senator. "We are not here to talk about whether and when we slept together seventy years ago; we're here to talk about what he's like now, and what should be done with him."

The Senator glanced around. "All right, then, let's talk about that. He hasn't just hurt people as the Winter Soldier. He hurt people after his capture."

"After he turned himself in to us, yes," Steve clarified. "We testified to that."

"He was violent to the people helping him."

"He's confined, and he's been conditioned to try to get out by any means necessary," said Natasha.

"Did he ever attack you?" the Senator asked Steve, ignoring Natasha.

"Yes, he did," said Steve, and there was a rustle from the press.

"Did he hurt you?"

"Yes."

"He was able to damage you, even though you're a super soldier? What chance do the rest of us have?"

"I can be damaged," Steve pointed out calmly. "I just heal more quickly. And yes, he was able to hurt me even though most other people can't, because he's faster and stronger than anyone else, including me." There was another rustle. "He's had training, and he didn't hold back. That's why we didn't feel safe releasing him to the public."

"What did you think, when he attacked you? Even though you had been... involved in the past?"

"That it was better me than anyone else, because I'd heal," said Steve steadily. "I didn't hold it against him. It was... difficult to be his victim. But I remembered that he was a victim too."

Natasha kept her face impassive. The panel thought he was just talking about the attacks on the Helicarrier, and the times Bucky had meltdowns during his confinement. Steve was treading a fine line here; they'd been able to keep anything else out of the panel discussions so far...

"But you expect the rest of us to just forgive him for this kind of behavior-" the Senator began.

"I don't expect anything, sir. Except for him to be given the respect he's earned, despite the danger he may pose."

Congressman Hynes, the other hardline member of the panel, spoke up. "Something we haven't addressed is the fact that if if he's able to do damage to the only super soldier in existence-"

"We have discussed it," said the Colonel who'd asked Steve about feeling justified in lying in order to serve. "And we've rejected your suggestion."

"What suggestion?" asked Natasha.

"Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes are both recipients of the Serum," said the Congressman. "Captain Rogers has been invaluable to us, both during the War and in recent years. One of the things Barnes might be able to do to atone for his past actions-"

"He doesn't need to atone for anything," said Steve.

"He is a war criminal and an assassin-"

"How about we point out that he's also got a lot of other labels that fit," Sam snapped. "Like war hero."

"Victim of human trafficking," said Tony.

"Prisoner of war," said Sam.

"Torture victim," said Natasha.

"He's in the Smithsonian exhibit as the only Howling Commando to have given his life for his country," said Steve, "and that's still true. In fact, he gave more than a lifetime; everything that happened to him for seventy years happened because of his service."

"Be that as it may, if he is able to cause damage to you, he's a powerful weapon," said the Congressman, unmoved. "A weapon that obviously should not be allowed to fall into enemy hands, but a weapon that probably shouldn't go unused. Not when we can-"

"He's a human being," said Sam forcefully. "Not a weapon."

"He could put the training he received for good, to redeem himself-"

"He doesn't need to redeem himself!" Steve said furiously. "You don't need to redeem yourself for what was done to you!"

"He worked for our enemies for decades," the Congressman insisted. "He was their tool. He could be a powerful tool for us now."

"Congratulations, Congressman," said Natasha. "You sound just like HYDRA."

"I object to that!"

"You can't object," Tony pointed out helpfully. "You're running this meeting."

"And I don't think we've learned anything new in this round of questioning," said the Colonel. "I don't think we will learn anything new." She glanced around, and with the exception of the belligerent Senator and Congressmen, the other members of the panel nodded. "I call this meeting closed. This panel will discuss our findings, and let you know our conclusions. Then we will discuss what to do about Sergeant Barnes."

The panel filed out, to a general buzz of conversation, and Natasha could see the reporters priming to rush them and question them. She took out her own phone - no surprise, there were a number of texts from Clint, the first one being simply WTFF STEVE. The second was a link to the "None of them was in my bedroom" clip with Steve, u snarky bastard, ilu, and the third said, slashy fangirls jizzing all over america *right* *now*. Natasha turned it off.

"Sorry, we have to meet with our team," Tony was saying to a reporter, and they stood to go. Tony clapped an arm around Steve's shoulders and murmured something into his ear - probably "Laugh as though I just said something funny," judging from how they both chuckled a moment later - and they headed out and through the throng of shouting reporters to the elevator.

"Sorry, this car is full," Tony said cheerfully and the door closed. He dropped his cheerful demeanor. "You OK?" he asked Steve.

"That could've gone better," Steve responded tightly.

"I dunno... the story right now is you coming out, and your relationship to Bucky. Possibly the Congressman's idea of using Bucky as a weapon, and all of us saying Hell no. I think we can spin all of that positively."

"You mean, keep the focus on that, and not on Bucky being dangerous right now?" Steve asked grimly.

Tony nodded.

"I got the feeling that most of the panel isn't interested in making Bucky pay for what he did as Winter Soldier," said Natasha.

"Me too," said Sam. "We'll have to wait to see what their report says."

Steve's phone buzzed, and he took it out and looked at it. He sighed.

"What?"

"It's Lee," he said wearily.

"Hey, I did warn the guy that he might be getting into a shit-show, dating an Avenger," said Sam.

"Not sure he could've expected a shit-show this big, this soon," said Steve wryly.

"It's a hell of a lot of pressure to put on a brand new relationship, don't you think?" said Tony.

"You think so?" Steve grimaced. "Gee, I wouldn't know anything about putting pressure on a relationship."

Tony chuckled. "All right, let's go," he said. "We'll call in Bruce and Clint, you can call your new guy back in private, and we'll talk about what we're doing next."


Author Notes: The last chapter will be up in one week. Please bug me if I forget, OK? I've also got three one-shots related to this fic, two of them standalone and one of them decidedly not a standalone.