"I don't know if she would have but it helped. Something to hope for when there was so much horror around us." Something to dream about. 'When the war is over...' Like the letters from home the other guys had received. Something to believe in when he'd almost forgot why they were fighting. "She was kind of married to her work." And marriage would have compromised that since everyone would have expected her to settle down.

Seeing her heartache, he reached across the table to take her hand, smiling at how normal it felt. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened between the two of you but I never wanted to hurt her. Or you. If I'd known, I wouldn't have said anything to you."

Maybe that would be best. Being glad that a Steve Rogers was alive didn't mean she would want to see him again. The ship was huge, or had seemed that way on the schematics he'd been allowed to look over. He could stay out of sight if that was what she wanted. "And I'm glad to see you like this. Means I'll have a bright memory to help keep the others alive."

Considering what she had said before about Project Rebirth, he smiled sheepishly, realizing that Steve probably looked completely different than him. "Too bad I don't live up to what you were expecting."