Tammy

Steve slunk into the room and closed the door behind himself. He looked over to find a young woman who looked as glum as he felt. He managed a weak smile and sat down across from her.

"I'm Steve."

She attempted a smile, but it wavered and didn't get anywhere near her eyes. "Tammy" she said briefly.

They stared at each other. Steve had a sinking feeling in his stomach- he'd seen that look before.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She sighed out an attempt at a laugh. "Yeah. Sorry, the guy before you was a little mean…." Her voice wavered, her mouth trembled, and she turned away in tears, covering her face quickly with her hands. "I am so sorry" she whispered.

"It's okay" Steve said, his brow furrowing. "What on earth did that guy say to you?" he demanded.

"Oh, he didn't… it's my own fault, really. I shouldn't be here. Oh god, why am I doing this?" she broke down in tears.

Steve stared at her, unsure on how to proceed.

"I just had a bad break-up" she tried to explain, her voice weak. "About a month ago. Some friends of mine thought I was pining a bit too much, so they got me dressed up to take me out… and brought me to this." She wiped away tears. "They kind-of just… dumped me here. Told me to get on with it."

"That's terrible." Steve sympathised. This gal didn't need a new boyfriend, she needed better friends. He moved his chair around to her side of the table and sat next to her, reaching over to pat her on the back. His sensitivity was too much for Tammy, who broke down again, and threw her arms around him. As she sobbed Steve patted her silently on the back. This was an uncomfortably familiar scenario- Bucky had always been a bit of a heartbreaker, and more than once Steve had ended up trying to comfort some poor girl his buddy had dumped. All he could do was rub their backs and hope they didn't get too much snot on his shoulder. That was about as close to a woman as he ever got. Things weren't looking up.

He spent the full six minutes with Tammy crying on his shoulder. At the bell, she sat up, and gently wiped her face.

"Thank you for being so understanding" she murmured.

"Hey, no sweat." He said shrugging.

"I hope you have some luck here tonight. You seem really nice" she assured.

"I don't think this speed dating thing is for me either." He admitted.

She managed a smile, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Steve left the room, and waited until the door was closed before letting out a huge breath. Barton was coming out of the next room with a bemused expression on his face. He looked at Steve. Steve gestured to Tammy's room.

"She's in a bad place. Go easy on her, okay?"

Barton shrugged and opened the door to go in. Steve heard Barton speak through the door.

"Are you crying? Was he really that awful?"

Steve rolled his eyes.