It's another one of those damn moments where they just stare at him, speechless, but this time it's for a hopeful reason.
"Guys?" Steve prods gently, "why are you all looking at me like you saw a ghost? Was it bad?" He looks down at his leg, shifting the cast, "this feels pretty alright, bit of soreness." He stretches his shoulders and looks up. "Nothing else feels wrong."
Bruce comes forward first, "Your leg should be almost healed but if you wouldn't mind keeping the cast on for another day or two, just in case."
Steve smiles, "sure, of course."
Bucky chokes, half in disbelief and the other half in even more disbelief, "You're agreeing to stay in a cast?"
Steve's brow furrows, "Yeah, Bruce says I should, why wouldn't I?"
The team is silent. Not only is Steve known for hiding injuries, he usually is up on his feet days before doctors would recommend and ignores most medical advice.
But this Steve doesn't remember years of being stuck in a bed fighting for his life. He doesn't remember being seen as a burden by his father just for being sick. He doesn't remember hiding his injuries to seem like a stronger leader.
"No reason." Natasha quips. She trips forward, sitting lightly on Steve's bed. "Hey, what do you feel like eating today? You need to keep your strength up."
Steve thinks about it… he looks around him and then looks at Bucky. "You remember the first time we tried a taco?"
"Umm… Not really. Can you tell me about it?"
There's not even a hesitation before Steve is vividly describing a little booth at a fair. They had been hearing rave reviews of what people were saying was going to be all the rage one day. He explains that they aren't exactly like the tacos they eat now but Steve had never forgotten eating the tortilla for the first time back in the early 40's.
He laughs at the memory and then sighs. "I feel like I could eat 50 tacos right now."
Before anyone can respond, Friday, sounding eager, says, "I have just placed a large order at Julio's. It will be delivered in 30 minutes."
Tony looks sideways up at the ceiling. How Steve has had both of his AI's wrapped around his finger is a mystery to him. "Tacos sound great."
—
They transfer Steve to a wheelchair even though he insists he can hobble to the elevator. One look from Bruce has him raising his hands in surrender and chatting cheerfully about wanting his teammates to sign his cast as the elevator rises to the common room floor.
Each avenger is slow to respond to Steve's absolute 180 in behavior. He makes small comments and outdated references and they catch him looking at them as if he's expecting some sort of quippy response, and when he doesn't get it, he furrows his brow and picks at his food.
Finally, when he can't take it anymore he sighs, setting his plate down heavily on the table. "Okay, what did I do?"
"Hmm?"
"The mission? I must have messed up in some way, you guys are… Acting like someone died. Did I…" His eyes widen and then his face smooths over into his Captain's face, serious and somber, "Did I cause a casualty? Was it a civilian?"
"No!" Bucky says loudly, "No. You did not. You… No. There were no casualties. Everyone's fine."
That may be a bit of an overstatement at the moment… But no one disagrees.
"Then why is everyone acting like this?"
"Steve?" Bruce says with a bit of brittleness. "If we promise we'll tell you the whole thing, can you give us a few days before we do?"
The significant worry that crosses Steve's face is palpable. He looks around at each of them, trying to understand what has them all wrapped up and on edge. But he can't understand. He didn't see his own broken and dead body being shielded by the hulk, or his wild eyes when he thought he was trapped in the mind machine, or the hopeful expression when he thought he was dead.
He slowly lets out a breath, his shoulders sinking before saying, "okay."
—
Bruce wheels Steve to his room to use the bathroom and the rest sit quietly at the table.
"We need to stop acting like we're waiting for the other boot to drop." Natasha says in frustration. "He's here, and he's safe and he's… happy. Or— I mean— Barnes, have you ever seen this side of him?"
Bucky's eyes follow the waving of Natasha's hands but he answers softly, "not really. There were plenty of times when he was happy, but all the memories, the sickness, his dad, his ma, they always weighed on him. I"ve never seen him so—-"
"Relaxed?" Tony offers
"At peace."
The silence after he says that lasts until they hear the other two returning.
—
When Steve is settled back at the table, Clint jumps up and makes a grand gesture. "Okay, so I'm thinking we need to do something tonight as a group. Obviously, nothing too physical with Cap in a wheelchair here, but something."
Tony picks up on Clint's not so subtle attempt to shift the mood upward. "What you got in mind, Barton?"
Clint looks at Steve and a wicked grin crosses his face. "I've got just the thing. Get dressed and meet me in the parking garage in an hour."
—-
Steve hobbles from his chair to the bathroom. He notices that his room is kind of stale, and he wonders at that. It seems like he hasn't been living there recently. "How long was this last mission?" He wonders out loud. It troubles him that he can't remember it. He must have taken quite the knock to the head.
When he gets to the tub he sits down, and peels off his shirt. The sweatpants with the cut-off leg are a bit harder to maneuver but he manages and his underwear are next. He turns the water on, thinking about trying a shower before quickly deciding a bath is probably a better choice. He sits on the edge as the tub fills up. Gently lowering the majority of his body while trying to keep his casted leg out of the water turns out to be more difficult than he thought. He shifts and turns and tries multiple different ways, but he can't seem to figure out a way that won't end in a soggy cast.
He briefly considers not bathing at all but he discards that notion. He feels gross and his body feels like it's been through the wringer. He wants to be clean.
He looks down, "Sorry, Bruce." He reaches down and carefully begins ripping the cast, chunk by chunk until his leg is free. Placing weight on it only gives the smallest twinge of soreness and he smiles at having all his limbs free. He lowers himself into the tub and settles into the warm water.
—-
When the hour mark hits, and Steve is the only one not present, Bucky is immediately on guard.
He's about to take off to Steve's room when Tony grabs at his arm, "Friday?"
"Yes, boss?"
"Not to violate privacy protocols, but is Steve okay?" She would have alerted him if there was something more serious, but it was unusual for Steve to be late.
The brief pause and slight amusement in the AI's tone tells Tony everything's fine, "Captain Rogers is at this moment asleep in his bathtub. He is not in danger of being submerged."
"He's sleeping." Bucky says, his face a shade of pale but eyes bright with realization, "he's asleep. He willingly fell asleep in water." He laughs, his voice a bit raw.
"Do we have to show him?" Clint says softly. The question isn't rhetorical, there's actual hope in Clint's eyes, but no one responds. Of course they have to show him. He needs to know what happened to him. The tragic parts of his life are equally a part of his experience.
"I wish we didn't." Bucky sighs. "But I want to remember what happened to me. All of it. Even the bad. I know Steve would want the same."
"Just…" Clint's hands are held out in front of him, "Just not right away, okay? Maybe we can give him some great memories before we add back in the bad."
No one argues with him or tries to fight his logic.
Tony looks at his watch. "Friday? Can you wake Cap up? Gently?"
"Of course, boss."
—
Not 10 minutes later, the elevator dings and a fresh and sheepish looking Steve walks out. "Sorry, guys, I guess I didn't realize how tired I still was." He looks guiltily at Clint, "hope I didn't ruin a reservation time?"
"No, You're good. It's—" He looks at Steve. Something's off. "Where's your cast?"
Bruce's neck almost cracks as he looks down at the jeans that are snug against Steve's legs.
Steve's cheeks flush, as he looks up at the doctor. "Sorry, I know you said a couple more days but I swear my leg feels fine, and I couldn't figure out how to shower with it so I tried a bath, but that didn't work so I had to break it off. Sorry…" He ducks his head. And they stare at him. Something about him apologizing for healing quickly and not following medical advice is so Steve that suddenly the tension of the day breaks and they're laughing. Tony is clutching at his chest and wheezing while Bruce chuckles lightly. Natasha is hanging onto Clint's arm, shaking from laughter and Bucky just shoves his shoulder against Steve's as they walk to the car, Steve's smile the brightest out of all of them.
—
They pull into an underground parking garage and when Tony sees the sign for where they're heading he looks at Clint in disbelief, "you devious little bird."
The smirk on Clint's face is positively wicked as they step inside the crowded room.
"What is this place?" Bucky asks, looking around.
"It's called Karaoke, it's a place where you sing for the crowd, whatever song you want." Bucky immediately turns to Steve expecting a full rejection, Steve hasn't sung anything willingly since the 40's and it was rare then.
But Steve's face is excited when he returns Bucky's questioning look. "Sounds fun!" He looks around, "do you think they serve food here?"
Bucky is in too much shock to answer so Natasha steps in, "of course, they'll take our order at our table, come on." She hauls Steve away but turns to glare at them, her expression reading get it together.
"How much did he hate singing in front of people before?" Tony asks, eyeing Bucky.
"He didn't mind when we were kids, gave him something to practice in bed, but once he got older and people picked on him for it he kind of stopped. And then after the serum when the—" Bucky scrubs his uncovered metal hand over his face, "when he could sing perfectly he stopped. Only a few times was I able to convince him to sing, and it was always at the benefit of someone else."
"Why would he stop if he could do it perfectly?"
Bucky gives a look as if they should already know the answer to that question, "He was never good at accepting attention. On missions, on the battlefield, he didn't mind because if the attention was on him then that meant the guns were pointed in his direction too. But when else have you ever known Steve to willingly try for attention?"
They don't answer, because there is no answer, Steve has never been an attention seeker.
"But maybe," Bucky says softly, staring at where Steve and Natasha are arguing over whether to sit at a booth or a table, "maybe he doesn't have those reservations right now."
Clint smiles, "I can't wait to find out!" He claps Bucky on the shoulder and pulls him towards the arguing duo.
—-
Clint is voted as the first victim since he chose the activity. And when he sings "I'm Like a Bird" in an exaggerated warbly voice, they laugh and clap while Tony openly 'boos'.
Bruce and Natasha sing a hilarious duet of "I Can Do Without You" that has their audience howling with laughter..
"Who's next!" Natasha beams as she sits down at the table, sipping on a glass of water.
Bucky, Tony, and Steve all look at each other. "Not me." Tony says, hands up in a 'no way' gesture.
Bucky looks at Steve a little guiltily, "I don't really want to go."
Steve's face turns instantly serious. "Then you don't have to."
"Will you though?" Bucky asks, "Would you sing Becca's favorite? She always loved when you sang for her."
Steve smiles, "You got it, Buck." He stands up, weaving his way through the crowd and taking the stage. Steve ducks his head at the colorful lights flashing at him as he selects a song. He grabs a stool that's off to the side, pulling it to the middle and settling on it. The first chords are heard and Natasha swears she hears Bucky suck in a breath.
Steve's voice starts hesitantly, unused to being used for singing, but his low tenor voice is unlike anything she's ever heard before. It's clear and crisp, and smooth and soothing. She can hear the earnestness that is so inherently Steve and the words draw her back to her own childhood. She looks at Clint whose face is in disbelief. Tony is slack jawed and she swears Bruce wipes a tear from his eyes.
Steve's rounding the last chorus and verse:
Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me
Oh, somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why, then, oh, why can't i?
His voice slows and there's an ache in it that has all on them leaning forward, his eyes are staring far away and the look on his face is a perfect mix of hopeful and wistful
If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh, why can't I?
The room is pindrop silent for exactly two seconds before the room bursts into such loud applause that Steve actually flinches backwards and an immediate blush is across his features as he bolts from the stage. He's at their table and shrinking into his seat before the applause has even finished and he looks like he wants the floor to swallow him.
He glances up at them and besides Bucky who is looking positively nostalgic, the rest are staring at him as if he has three heads.
"Too much?" Steve asks genuinely. "Too old of a song?" His hands start fretting and he starts to ramble, something they've never heard Steve do, "It was Becca's favorite. It came out just a few days before the war started and she always asked me to sing it. I should have picked something more modern, I don't know much—"
"Steve!" Clint crows, standing up and throwing his hands in the air, "you have the most perfect voice I've ever heard! How come we've never heard it before?" He slams back down into his chair and looks seriously at Steve, "You could be famous with a voice like that."
"He's famous for other things already, you idiot." Natasha smacks Clint over the head, "But Steve seriously, you sounded amazing."
"Yeah," Tony drawls, "surprise, surprise, another thing Cap's good at." He rolls his eyes but the smile on his face is harmless. "You got the voice of an angel, Cap."
Steve looks at Bucky who just smiles, resting a hand on Steve's shoulder.
"It was nice to hear you sing that song again. I mean… I haven't heard you sing in…" he stops thinking back, "I think since you sang for Peggy as her birthday gift." Bucky's face is focused as if he's trying to recall the memory, "Some really slow song, only time I ever saw her actually blush—" but the group realizes his mistake too late.
"I never sang for Peggy's birthday." Steve says, confusion coloring his tone, "I think I'd remember that—"
Bucky looks up, realization hitting him as he winces, "Uh— um.. well, you… It was when… After the—-" He sighs, looking up at the others who just stare helplessly back. "You might not remember it right now, but you did. And you will remember, okay? Just… I'm saying it's been like 70 years since I've heard you sing anything."
Steve isn't ready to let it go, "Why wouldn't I remember that? Why haven't I sung for 70 years?" No one answers and a worried look dawns on his features, "I get not remembering our last mission if I got injured, but why am I missing pieces from before the Valkyrie?"
"Steve." Bucky says, his voice a bit on edge. "Not now, okay?"
He looks like he wants to argue, but Bucky's expression has him sighing and settling back into his chair, "okay…"
They stay for a few more songs but the mood isn't the same and they leave soon after.
—
They're back at the compound and about to go their separate ways when Bruce clears his throat, catching their attention. "Can we… I mean, I know it's been a long day, but… could we watch a movie?"
Tony knows immediately it's not for Bruce's benefit, he's trying to resolve the tension from the karaoke joint.
"What did you have in mind?" Natasha asks, stepping towards the common area. Clint follows without any fight and Tony rolls his eyes goodnaturedly before following.
Steve hesitates but Bucky doesn't, following quickly after Tony and not looking back, hoping to draw Steve in. It works. He hears Steve's footfalls behind him.
"Something funny." Natasha demands.
"How about 'Liar, Liar'?" Clint offers, "classic Jim Carrey?" No one responds. His mouth gapes, "not one of you has seen it? Oh we're definitely watching it now."
He has Friday pull it up and then pulls Steve to the center of the couch. He sits him down, and sits on his left. "You're going to crack up, this movie is so great." Steve nods, not reacting at all when Natasha sits in front of him, leaning against his legs. Bucky sits on his right and Tony and Bruce sit in the chairs winging the couch.
They all laugh through the whole movie, Steve wiping tears away from his eyes after the scene where he insults all of his business partners. As it nears the end, Natasha is dozing, her head resting back on Steve's knees. Clint watches him smile at her softly, brushing hair off of her face. It's a gentle and protective gesture that has Clint meeting Bucky's eyes in surprise. Their Steve being physical to anyone for any reason is uncommon. But the way this Steve's fingers absently play with the ends of Natasha's hair as he laughs through the rest of the movie feel natural.
Instead of questioning it, Clint edges closer, making some silly comment about the current scene but leaving his arm up against Steve's, feeling his heat radiate off him. He notices Bucky do the same.
When the movie finishes Steve eyes them with a sleepy grin, "It's so comfortable here, I don't want to get up."
"Then sleep here." Bruce offers, "I wouldn't dare wake a sleeping Natasha anyways." The joke makes light, but they watch as Steve just nods thoughtfully and settles back, closing his eyes and resting a hand behind his head. No argument, or denial that he wants to be close to them.
They watch as Steve drifts off, completely relaxed and at ease.
And even though all of them have their own beds, and are awake enough to walk to their own rooms, not a single one of them moves.
—-
"Sir." The voice on the phone speaks.
"Yes?"
"I'm sending you a link. You requested to be notified if—"
"Yes, yes, send it through." General Ross hangs up and clicks to his email, pulling up the newest one and opening it. He clicks the link which takes him to a celebrity news site. One of the trashy ones.
A video starts playing immediately and he watches with eyes widening as the reporter speaks,
" — a sort of hiatus, or so that is what the PR team at Stark Industries and the Government has been wanting us to believe. But no one can deny that 5 out of the 6 original avengers were indeed seen at a karaoke bar just tonight. A new addition that many people recognize as the "Winter Soldier", famous for his battle with Captain America on the streets of DC just a few years ago, was among the group. We've been interviewing patrons who witnessed them first hand. Among them: Kris Tembry from Queens, Kris can you tell us what you saw tonight?"
"Oooh, yeah dude, it was awesome. Like me and my buddies? We're here all the time, tryna have fun you know, and this guy walks up and my buddy Dave was like, 'hey yo, that looks like that bird avenger.' And I was all like, 'naw, dude stop playing.' But then when the scary red-head and doctor guy went up I was like 'nooo waaaayyy dude you were right the avengers are here."
"Were they the only ones who sang?"
"Oh no, no man, next up Captain America sang, and we were all like blooooown away, if you know what I mean, like this guy can siiiiing. I've never heard him sing before, I mean hell, me and my buddies argued that he seemed like a totally different person up there, but hey, that's the magic of karaoke man, it changes you. I think Cap felt that. We all felt that, you know?"
"You heard it here first, folks." The reporter states excitedly, "apparently Captain America can sing. What other secrets are the Avengers keeping from us?" Her smile is lighthearted as she signs off. "This is Missy Newsome, with Celebrity Brooklyn Buzz. All your celeb gossip, All the time."
Ross exits the link and a half smile plays on his lips. "A whole new person indeed." He chuckles, calling up a number on his phone and bringing it up to his ear.
His tone is somehow lighthearted and threatening at the same time. "You've got some explaining to do."