A hill I die on when writing Steve Rogers is that in the time between Bucky ādyingā and Bucky returning, heās very crushingly depressed. But āļø because no one in his life now knew him before Bucky died, they canāt tell. Heās very rigid and flat and controlled and angry, but all of that could super easily be mapped onto the myth that grew up around him while he was in the ice.
It was not beneficial for the military to push the image of Steve going rogue every other mission or getting into the weirdest most awkward miscommunications with everyone around him, so the legend around who he was isnāt that accurate, and thereās the cultural mismatch, and heās definitely playing into it because he doesnāt want anyone looking closer because he grew up with asylums and lobotomies. He doesnāt need people examining his behavior in that way.
But then Bucky comes back! And at first thereās a lot of conflict and kind of crisis management around the whole thing, but as people get in a rhythm, Steve changes pretty markedly. Heās not really the stoic commander anymore, at least not off duty. Heās not exactly lighthearted, but heās definitely interacting in a more casual way and getting mixed up in more things.
It freaks the rest of the team about a bit because they thought they knew this guy? Whatās going on? The only one not thrown is Bucky. If anything, Bucky is a little weirded out by how subdued Steve still is compared to before.
Which brings us to the worst thing Steve did after Bucky returned, as determined by each teammate:
Tony: controversial, but hiding that he knew the Winter Soldier is no longer Steveās worst crime in Tonyās book. They worked through that etc etc. The worst crime now would be the time Tony caught Steve drawing the team and he made Tony (accurately) short. Tony thought they were FRIENDS.
Clint: Steve got banned from Coney Island after he messed with the controls of a roller coaster to make it go as fast as it could. Clint thought that part was super fun but Steve forgot about security cameras and got caught and now they have more cameras on the controls so Clint canāt do it again.
Nat: Steve didnāt ever let her set him up with men. Her matchmaking talents were totally wasted this whole time. She takes this as like he didnāt trust her but Steve genuinely didnāt know he was gay he is just a little stupid sometimes.
Thor: Steve got some sharpies and mjolnir and now mjolnir is covered in graffiti-style art except for right on top. Took weeks to get it clean again.
Bruce: Steve thought it would be really funny to mess up Bruceās test tubes with DNA heād been replicating for days 42 dead 347 injured in Manhattan.
Sam: Steve invited him to a baseball game. Normal. Innocuous. Except then Bucky was also there. Sam then spent hours as a third wheel to a couple that insists they are not together but is aggressively flirting the entire time over him he is sitting in the middle. When Sam switched seats with Steve, Bucky and Steve just started wrestling in the most obviously flirty way. Sam pretended he didnāt know them. Also heās homophobic now specifically for those two assholes dear God please get a room.
Rhodey: called Tony Howard on accident on autopilot. Tony got into a fight with him in the moment, yeah, whatever, but Tony spent the next year asking Rhodey if heās really that much like Howard :( should he shave :( maybe he should change his speech patterns a little :( Rhodey is he that much like his father :(
Wanda: Steve will a) watch tv standing with his arms crossed twenty feet away and then b) announce that it doesnāt make any sense loudly and then c) either ignores that he didnāt get it because he missed the first ten minutes or ignores that itās running on sitcom logic and then d) has a very detailed opinion on how this plot should have gone that gets really dark halfway through that he will explain while the show is still running. This happens a lot.
Vision: Steveās search history. Vision is linked to the Internet so he knows his search history. Vision will not recover.
Peter: Rappinā with Cap was a pre-Bucky thing. The worst crime currently is that Steve will use slang incorrectly on purpose as rage bait and then play dumb. You may think Steve would only do this off duty. Steve does not care. Peter falls for it every time and it is not helping him get taken seriously as not-a-kid.
Bucky: legally canāt describe the exact events but he will say that Steve discovering Molotov cocktails did not improve Buckyās life.
gummygunk
vaporwave
theartofmadeline
